Baby dies after he’s left unsupervised in car seat at child care, Missouri police say

A child care provider in southwest Missouri left nine children under the age of 3 unsupervised, and when she returned, police say an 8-month-old baby wasn’t breathing.

The infant had been left alone in a car seat by 47-year-old day care provider Deborah Lundstrom, according to a news release from the Springfield Police Department. It’s unclear where the car seat was left.

Officials say that when she checked on the kids about 12 minutes later, Lundstrom noticed the baby boy wasn’t breathing and called 911.

Authorities responded to the Springfield home on Wednesday, March 2 and performed CPR until emergency medical services arrived, according to the news release.

EMS took the 8-month-old baby to the hospital, where authorities say he was pronounced dead.

The child has undergone an autopsy and the cause of death is under investigation.

Lundstrom was charged with first-degree involuntary manslaughter, first-degree endangering the welfare of a child – death of a child, eight counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child - creating a substantial risk and operating a child care facility without a license on Tuesday, March 8.

She was arrested by Springfield police and booked into the Greene County Jail.

A lawyer for Lundstrom was not listed in public arrest records.

The child’s death remains under investigation, officials say, and anyone with additional information is asked to call police at 417-864-1810. Tipsters who would like to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at 417-869-8477.

This story was originally published March 8, 2022 at 5:59 PM with the headline "Baby dies after he’s left unsupervised in car seat at child care, Missouri police say."