LAUDERHILL, FLA. (WSVN) - An infant dropped off for his first day at a Lauderhill daycare was returned to his family bruised and bloodied.
Monday was 10-month-old Zaheem’s first day at Small Miracles Learning Center in Lauderhill.
“He was happy,” said Zakeria Ross, the infant’s mother. “He was just happy.”
Several hours later, the 10-month-old somehow had puffy eyes, a bruised cheek and a lip swollen from a cut.
The family said they discovered his injuries when his paternal grandmother, Patricia Johnson, decided to check on him in the afternoon.
“We walked into the back room. I saw the young lady holding my grandson with a plastic glove with ice on his mouth,” said Johnson, “so I looked, and I just got so scared and nervous that I just picked him up and took him to Plantation General Hospital.”
“She just called hysterical,” added grandmother Robbie Pierre.
Doctors noted the infant suffered from facial and scalp contusions.
The family said the staff told them Zaheem was holding onto a walker when he fell.
“Unless he fell and bounced and fell and bounced and fell and bounced again, there’s no way he could have sustained those types of injuries,” said Pierre.
The family asked for a refund of the fees they had just paid.
They also called Lauderhill Police and the Florida Department of Children and Families.
Workers from the county’s licensing division, which handles daycare inspections, visited the center, Tuesday afternoon.
7News tried multiple times to reach workers at the Small Miracles Learning Center, but no one came to the door or answered phone calls.
Inspection reports over the past year show citations for noncompliance with training, cleanliness and paperwork rules.
However, the center passed its last inspection in September.
Zaheem’s family now just wants to know what happened to him.
“I feel bad. All I kept saying was, ‘I’m sorry, Zaheem. I’m sorry,'” said Ross.
Lauderhill Police said they are investigating it as an incident, while the Florida Department of Children and Families are investigating it as an allegation.
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