Child Injury Lawyer Blog
By Steven Smith, Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
A Pittsford, New York day care center is being investigated after a child came home with a fractured skull. To this day, parents still do not know how the incident happened. After the incident, a local news team learned that the day care center, Storybrook Child Care, was cited for serious violations. In May, the little boy was sent home with a head injury and the day care did not report or document the incident. The boy’s parents discovered the injury by giving him a kiss on the head one day. After stumbling upon their son’s injury, the parents immediately rushed their child to the hospital; the infant’s head had begun to swell and he was diagnosed with a skull fracture.
New York State Police say Aaron Davies, a 2-year-old boy, drowned in an above-ground pool located in the backyard of the toddler’s residential daycare facility in Greenville, New York. Aaron and nine other children were cared for by three women at the day care, which is unlicensed. Allegedly, while the children were in the backyard, the toddler climbed the ladder leading up to the pool without being noticed and entered the pool. It is believed the toddler was underwater for 3 minutes before he was found by the adults working at the day care. Rescue personnel was called and performed CPR on the toddler until he arrived at Albany Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead. If you would like to read more on this story see 
A 6-month-old baby girl, identified as Gianna Ricciutti, was killed and her mother injured by a falling tree branch at New York’s Central Park Zoo. According to police, the mother was posing with her baby in front of the zoo’s sea lion exhibit while her husband was taking a picture of them when a tree branch fell and hit the two victims. The mother and infant were taken to New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where the infant was pronounced dead and the mother in stable condition.
The number one cause of injury-related death in New York City is motor vehicle accidents. According to annual reports released by the State of New York Department of Health, 1,535 children died in New York City, of those 445 deaths were caused by injuries and 106 were killed by motor vehicles. The overwhelming majority of children killed by motor vehicles were walking at the time they were fatally struck, the others were riding bicycles or scooters. Although New York automobile accidents seem to be the cause of injury-related death to New York City children, the state’s number of deaths is relatively low when compared to the national average. In fact, New York City has just 1/3 of the transportation-related child fatalities that the nation’s average has. The primary reason being that so many New Yorkers rely on public transportation. Therefore, the public transportation system in New York City keeps children safer from automobile accidents than they otherwise would be.
Swimming accidents left three people dead, as a result of drowning, across the State of New York on Saturday, July 3. Fajir Javid, 9, of New York City had been camping at the Willington Lake Campground in Willington, New York with her family, other children and adults involved in a scouting organization. Javid was swimming with adults and other children when one of them noticed her missing. Adults immediately began searching for Javid while others called police. About 45 minutes after the Willington Fire Department and emergency divers arrived, Javid was found. Javid was located in about 10 feet of water, 25-30 feet off shore. The girl was taken to Johnson Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Ursula Lerse, 85, a resident of New Milford, New York, drowned while swimming in Candlewood Lake. Lerse was found by a firefighter about 20 feet from shore. Juan C. Lopez of Jamaica, New York drowned while swimming at Bull’s Bridge. You can read more about this at 
The New York Daily News reported that a 3 year old boy was attacked by the family pit bull. The attack may have been triggered by a family argument which, in turn, may have agitated the dog. Further investigation may reveal additional details and / or causes of this incident. Whatever the results of the investigation, it is clear that a 3 year old suffered serious personal injuries from the family Pit Bull. There have been many reports of the family dog including the family Pit Bull dog attacking children. Is it the breed? Is is the individual temperament of the dog? Is it because of environmental factors? Is it because of the living space of the dog or family?
In October 2009, it is alleged that Carmen Huertas drank heavily and then put seven children in a car to take them to a slumber party. A subsequent crash caused the death of 11 year old Leandra Rosado. Leandra’s death inspired a new law to protect children from drunk drivers, and New York’s Governor Paterson has signed it into law. The new law, called Leandra’s Law, makes it a felony to drive drunk when there is a child fifteen years of age or younger in the car. It also requires convicted drunk drivers to have ignition locks on their cars.