AVIN ROMINGER - 2 Months (2011) Accused: Sheila Caceres - Sacramento CA

A child care provider was arrested in connection with the February death of an infant,
the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department said Friday.Sheila Caceres was
once recognized by the Sacramento Child Care Coalition as the family child care provider of the year.The
31-year-old turned herself in to detectives with the Sheriff's Child
Abuse Bureau, according to a news release from the department.She
was taken into custody Thursday, and was held at the Sacramento County
Jail on one charge of repeatedly allowing day care children on a second
floor without proper supervision, and for child endangerment, deputies
said.Caceres has since posted $50,000 bail, and was released.A
2-month-old baby died while under Caceres' supervision at her day care
business in Mather on Feb. 23, the news release states.
She operated Sheila's Garden Daycare.Deputies said an investigation showed
Caceres was negligent while caring for the baby boy.She will be arraigned Nov. 4.
Read more: http://www.kcra.com/news/29617749/detail.html#ixzz1cBtYJUNh

SACRAMENTO—

Former Sacramento Child Care Provider of the Year
Sheila Caceres faces a possible eight years in prison after she was
arrested for two counts of felony child neglect.

The 31-year-old Caceres received the award in 2008 but in February of
this year, 2-month-old Avin Caceres was found lifeless in the upstairs
bedroom of a home she used for her child care business.

Caceres turned herself in this week.

Sacramento County Sheriff's investigators say she was caught
in several lies and eventually admitted to doing nothing for nearly
half and hour after she found the infant lifeless. It is against
regulations for a child care facility to keep infants on the second floor of a facility.

She said she panicked.

"That certainly looks like it could come into play on her part, but
obviously it's no excuse. There's always the possibility that this
child's live mayi have been saved if medical care was immediately
given," said Sacramento County Sheriff's spokesman Jason Ramos.

The coroner could not come up with a cause of death, in part because so much time had passed after the child died.

A closer look at the operation by state regulators revealed
complaints about having more kids than Caceres' license allowed, letting
a child roam freely in the front yard unattended, and taking a child
out of the daycare to another residence and having sex in front of the child.

Regulatory violations were dropped after Caceres agreed to a lifetime
ban from operating a child care facility. Caceres voluntarily turned herself in and is out on $50,000 bail.

Caceres will be in court November 4.
http://www.fox40.com/news/headlines/ktxl-former-child-care-provider-of-the-year-arrested-for-child-neglectt-child-neglect-charges-filed-against-sheila-caceres-20111028,0,2595415.story

"Former Sacramento Child Care Provider of the Year
Sheila Caceres faces a possible eight years in prison after she was
arrested for two counts of felony child neglect."

Oh brother! What in the world happened to this woman..going from Provider of the Year to Neglector of the Year! Sheesh.

Marjie Lundstrom and Sam Stanton
mlundstrom@sacbee.com
By Marjie Lundstrom and Sam Stanton The Sacramento Bee
Last modified: Nov. 6, 2011
Sacramento County's former "family child care provider of the year" was arrested Thursday on a charge of felony child neglect in the February death of an infant in her care.
Sheila Caceres, a 31-year-old mother of three, turned herself in at the Sacramento County jail Thursday night, where she was expected to be booked and then released on $50,000 bail, authorities said.
She had operated Sheila's Garden Daycare from her 2,800-square-foot home since 2005.
Caceres had been under investigation in the Feb. 23 death of 2-month-old Avin Rominger, who was found unresponsive in the upstairs of her Mather home.
She also is being charged with "repeatedly" violating the state Health and Safety Code by placing unattended infants in the upstairs of her home, while watching older children on the first floor.
Caceres faces up to eight years in prison if convicted of felony child neglect.
"My husband and I are very pleased with the District Attorney's Office for continuing with these charges," Rachelle Rominger, Avin's mother, said late Thursday. "We feel this is the start of the justice process for our son."
Caceres' arrest stands in stark contrast to the image she presented in February 2008, when the Sacramento Child Care Coalition honored her as provider of the year at a downtown gala. Nominated by parents, she was lauded by government leaders and education professionals for her "commitment to building strong, trusting relationships" and her welcoming spirit.
Three years later, the woman praised for pumpkin patch outings and backyard barbecues was being pursued by both the Sheriff's Department and the California Department of Social Services.
Sheriff's detectives say the case proved difficult to untangle because Caceres told conflicting stories about what happened to the baby that winter day.
According to Dave Rominger, Avin's father, Caceres greeted him as usual around 4 p.m. and calmly went upstairs, then came running back down screaming for him to call 911.
But Caceres initially told a detective she found Avin unresponsive in a downstairs crib. Later, she amended her version, telling Detective Darin Pometta that she left Avin sleeping upstairs in a car seat and sometime that afternoon found him unresponsive.
She said she picked him up, then placed him on his side in a portable playpen, rubbed his back and went downstairs until Dave Rominger arrived, Pometta told The Bee.
The baby was later pronounced dead at Mercy San Juan Medical Center.
"The reality is, with immediate medical intervention, Avin might have had a chance to live," said Sgt. Jeff Reinl of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Child Abuse Unit.
"Sheila's action – or inaction – eliminated any possibility for him to survive."
Reinl said Caceres' role as a trained, professional child care provider factored into her arrest. He said Caceres would be expected to provide "a higher standard of care than if you had teenagers next door watching your kids."
Caceres did not respond to numerous requests for comment from The Bee last month, but the attorney who handled her licensing case with the state said Caceres had nothing to do with Avin's death.
For the Romingers, the arrest of a neighbor they entrusted with Avin and his older sister marks a critical juncture in their search for legal justice.
But it does little to explain the medical mystery that still shrouds the death of their second child.
While the public has become familiar with a finding of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, that was not the case with Avin. Following an autopsy, the Sacramento County Coroner's Office listed his cause of death as sudden unexpected infant death, or SUID – an important distinction.
SIDS is defined as the sudden death of an infant under 1 year old that cannot be explained after a thorough investigation. It is, says Sacramento County Coroner Gregory Wyatt, a "finding of exclusion."
In contrast, sudden unexpected infant death is a broader classification that applies to any sudden and unexpected death of a child under 1, whether explained or unexplained. About half of these are due to SIDS, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A sudden explained death might be caused by infections, poisoning or an accidental suffocation.
The manner of death in Avin's case was ruled "undetermined" – meaning the coroner could not conclude whether it was natural, accidental or homicide. But the pathologist noted that the delay in calling 911 was "a factor of concern since it is unknown if he could have been revived from whatever event caused his death."
In a similar case, a day care operator in Council Bluffs, Iowa, was charged this month with two felonies after a 5-month-old infant died in her care. As with Avin, the baby's cause of death was ruled to be sudden unexpected infant death.
Since Avin's death, Rach- elle and Dave Rominger said, they have been ostracized and shunned by other parents who used the day care, blaming them for Caceres' legal woes.
Caceres' day care license was suspended after Avin's death. State licensing documents show she also faced a number of other allegations, including lying to law enforcement, violating fire safety clearance, letting a child wander away from the home and engaging in sex in front of at least one child in her care.
Last month, in a deal struck with the state Department of Social Services, she agreed to a lifetime ban on operating, working in or being present in a day care home.

http://shakenbabyandsuddeninfantdeath.blogspot.com/2011/11/sids-california-sheila-caceres-arrested.html

Sacramento County couple whose child died in day care look to upcoming trial for justice

By Marjie Lundstrom and Sam Stanton
Published: Tuesday, May. 22, 2012 - 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Tuesday, May. 29, 2012 - 10:06 am

The last time Sheila Caceres appeared in Sacramento Superior Court, a former friend and client confronted her in the marble hallway – mother-to-mother.

"Baby killer!" the woman shrieked, cradling a newborn as Caceres' black high heels clicked rapidly toward the nearest exit.

It has been a long journey for Sacramento's one-time "family child care provider of the year," whose fancy day care home became the toast of the suburbs until her arrest in October.

Caceres, 32, returns to court Wednesday to face criminal charges in the February 2011 death of 2-month-old Avin Rominger.

The burst of courthouse drama with Avin's mother last month offered a glimpse into the fractured worlds of families, friends, former clients and neighbors, who are splitting up and taking sides over the tragedy.

The baby's mysterious death also has challenged law enforcement officials, who cannot say exactly how the boy died. But they contend Caceres initially lied about what happened and failed to give the baby prompt medical attention, and they want to see her punished.

The complex criminal case resumes Wednesday after Caceres recently rejected a plea agreement. She faces a preliminary hearing into whether there is enough evidence to try her in Avin's death.

Caceres has pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of child endangerment and misdemeanor violation of fire safety regulations. If convicted, the woman who once advertised her "safe, loving environment for children" faces up to 6½ years in prison.

Caceres has declined Bee requests for an interview. Her attorney, Joe Welch, said commenting at length would be "inappropriate" before the hearing.

However, Welch did say: "My client did everything to help the child and nothing to hurt him."

Outside the courtroom, the child's death has altered the lives of the Caceres family and especially of Avin's parents, Rachelle and Dave Rominger, and their 6-year-old daughter, Savannah. In January, Rachelle gave birth to a daughter, Axtin.

"Every single day is harder than the last," said Rachelle Rominger, whose courthouse confrontations with Caceres last month drew notice from the bailiff and a security detail. "I'm grateful for the family I have, but it's an indescribable loss.

"It's just an endless circle of misery she's inflicted on our family for years to come."

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/05/22/4507053/sacramento-county-couple-whose.html#storylink=cpy