The Tarrant County Medical Examiner said the manner of a death of a 5-month-old boy who died at a Williamson County daycare in January was “consistent with an accident.”
The death of 5-month-old Brody Havins led a Williamson County grand jury to indict the daycare owner Holly Harrison on charges of injury to a child and tampering with evidence.
The grand jury said Harrison had too many children in her care, waited too long to call 911, didn’t remove a glove in Havins’ throat in a reasonable amount of time and didn’t perform CPR in a reasonable time or manner.
According to the medical examiner’s report, Havins had no congenital anomalies, had an absence of any injury, but did test positive for streptococcus pneumoniae. The medical examiner noted there was “no evidence of trauma or foul play” in the infant’s death.
The Tarrant County medical examiner reported the official cause of death as “asphyxia with history of airway obstruction by foreign object.”
According to the medical abstract of the death certificate which KVUE obtained, it lists a serious condition contributing to the death as "caregiver neglected responsibility."
Harrison was in court this week, but the hearing was reset. She has a new attorney after her previous attorney won an election for Williamson County Court at Law Number 2 judge this spring.
In a DFPS investigation, investigators found a number of infractions at Harrison’s daycare. In one section the report says Harrison was "texting on a cell phone while performing chest compressions" in regards to Havins.
Another infraction says "During an investigation, it was found that the home did not have individual cribs for each infant in care." The report says parents weren't allowed to come into the home during hours of operation without permission from the caregiver. That goes against DFPS rules.
Mindy Montford, defense attorney and former prosecutor, has no connection to this case. KVUE asked her to weigh in on the new report. She said a court will typically weigh scientific evidence like an autopsy, heavily.
"The defense is of course going to argue that this supports their theory that this was accidental, that she had no culpability, this was not her fault. The state of course could still prosecute and say that it's the opposite. That maybe she didn't cause this intentionally, but she should have acted, so it was more of a reckless or omission. She should have acted she didn't., it was careless or negligent," said defense attorney and former prosecutor Mindy Montford.