Testimony resumes Thursday morning at the Boone County Courthouse in the trial of a Columbia daycare operator charged with involuntary manslaughter for the 2023 suffocation death of a child in her care.
58-year-old Sarah Brown is charged with involuntary manslaughter, a class C felony. Court documents allege that Brown was operating an unlicensed and illegal daycare out of her home near Paris road when the incident happened.
Our news partner ABC-17 reports a jury heard opening statements Wednesday from Boone County assistant prosecutor Melissa Buchanan and from defense attorney Richard Hicks. CPD’s 2023 probable cause statement alleges that Brown left the child for two-and-a-half hours in a crib with a loose unfitted blanket and pillow while being placed in a sleeping position that resulted in death by suffocation. Court documents say the child’s parents had given Brown instructions to have the child sleep on her back, due to being diagnosed recently with a viral lung infection that caused the child to cough and have difficulty breathing.
Prosecutor Buchanan is quoted by ABC-17 as telling the jury that the child was left unattended and died in a reckless environment due to Brown’s conduct. Defense attorney Hicks says that while it’s a tragedy, it does not mean that a crime was committed. Counselor Hicks is also quoted by ABC-17 as telling jurors that the child’s parents did not disclose the full extent of the child’s medical conditions to Sarah Brown.
2023 court documents allege that Brown was operating an unlicensed and illegal daycare out of the home. It notes Missouri law states that a person must obtain a state license if you care for more than six children not related to you. Brown had 12 children in her care on May 25, 2023, the day of the suffocation death, according to court documents.
Boone County Circuit Judge Jeff Harris is presiding over the jury trial.