‘Torn soul,’ says mother of dead baby hanging at daycare

Mother of little Laura Rebeca Ribeiro dos Santos, aged 1 year and 4 months, who died after being hanged from a baby carrier, hairdresser Lorrany Stephane took to social media to post a moving story about the loss of her youngest daughter. The girl died this Thursday (11/12), while in the care of a nanny, who had a daycare at her home in Ceilândia.

“Today I write with a torn soul, with a void that no words can fill,” Lorrany said.

The hairdresser described her daughter as smiling, happy, full of life and easy to laugh. “I never imagined that I would leave the house and not come back with you in my arms. I never imagined that one day I would need to write something like this,” he lamented.

It was the first time the woman had entrusted her daughter to a stranger at the time of the accident. A single mother of three children – two boys and a baby – she had to work that day and decided to leave the little girl in an improvised daycare in sector O. A few hours later, little Laura died of asphyxiation.

“I trusted. I trusted because every mother trusts when she needs to work, when she believes her daughter will be safe. And that trust cost me everything. I took my daughter… but I didn’t bring her back,” he wrote.

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Lorrany Stephane resettled after the death of her daughter Laura, aged 1 year and 8 months, in a makeshift nursery in Setor O

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A baby died of asphyxiation in a baby carrier inside a house that operated as an irregular daycare in Ceilândia

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The makeshift daycare where Laura was was not allowed to operate and accommodated several children at the same time.

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The mother said she trusted the caregiver’s recommendation, who promised her cameras, sending photos and experience with the children.

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In the publication, Lorrany mentions that the family is waiting for the report from the Legal Medical Institute (IML) to understand the dynamics of the accident that killed little Laura Rebeca. The result should be known within 30 days.

“My daughter left in a way that remains to be clarified. We are waiting for the experts, we are waiting for the truth. What I know, with all the certainty in the world, is that no mother should experience this. No child should leave like this,” he said. “My daughter, my Laura. You will live forever in my heart,” Lorrany concluded the tribute.

Family and friends paid a final tribute to little Laura this Saturday morning (13/12). The baby’s wake was held at the Taguatinga cemetery. At the scene, family members said goodbye to the baby amid strong emotions and tears.

Remember the case

The daycare operated in an adapted house, without authorization from the Ministry of Education and without a permit.
Reports indicate the caregiver was caring for multiple children at the same time, without a support team.
Laura was placed in a comfort baby who did not belong to the family.
At one point, the child became trapped in the baby’s seat belt and died of asphyxiation.
The official found the baby unconscious and took him to the Ceilândia UPA, where the death was confirmed.
The investigation initially indicates accidental asphyxiation and the official cause will be determined by the Institute of Legal Medicine (IML).

The mother’s perspective on what happened

Lorrany said Laura was healthy and calm when she was dropped off at the scene. The comfort baby whose child died of asphyxiation was not a member of the family.

The mother said she received a notice at the salon where she works that the girl had been injured. She thought it was something simple.

According to Lorrany, the caregiver presented different versions of what happened. “She said she didn’t know Laura’s routine and thought she was sleeping. When she came to pick her up, she was unconscious. Then she told another version, saying she had been turned around. And yet another saying she had to go and leave her with her husband.”

Grieving, Lorrany said she trusted the investigations. “The medical examiners will say anything, and all I want is justice. We hope to leave our children there, because they need to work, and now I am without my daughter.”

The case is being investigated by the 24th police station (sector O).