Day care worker used 18-pound weighted blanket to suffocate 'immobilized' 3-year-old: Police

A 40-year-old time attraction idiosyncratic successful Missouri has been arrested and accused of suffocating a 3-year-old lad to death, allegedly binding his arms and covering him with a weighted broad that weighed much than 18 pounds. Tiffany Hedrick was indicted by a expansive assemblage successful St. Francois County past week connected 1 number each of maltreatment oregon neglect of a kid resulting successful death, equipped transgression action, and second-degree murder, tribunal documents reviewed by Law&Crime show.

According to the indictment, Hedrick was "responsible for the care" of Conrad Ashcraft erstwhile she "neglected" him by "placing and leaving [Conrad] look down, nether a weighted blanket, with his arms immobilized." The papers goes connected to authorities that Conrad "was killed by asphyxiation arsenic a result" of Hedrick's actions.

The equipped transgression enactment complaint stems from Hedrick's usage of the weighted broad successful allegedly causing the death, tribunal records show.

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A wrongful decease lawsuit filed against Hedrick successful May by Conrad's begetter provides further allegations surrounding the boy's tragic death. The time care, Poppy's Playhouse 2, is besides the subject of a civilian lawsuit.

The suit claims that Hedrick enactment Conrad "on his backmost portion tucking the sides of his idiosyncratic broad nether his assemblage trapping his arms," past flipped the lad onto his tummy due to the fact that helium was struggling.

"After forcing decedent connected to his stomach, she again tightened the blanket, trapping decedent's arms nether the blanket," the ailment states. "She covered decedent with a weighted blanket, weighing astir 18.2 pounds, including covering the decedent's face. The weighted broad covering decedent did not beryllium to decedent oregon his family, alternatively it was a broad that Defendants utilized to subdue tiny children astatine nap time."

The incidental occurred connected Friday, May 16, astatine the constitution located successful the 100 artifact of Mitchell Street successful Park Hills, astir 65 miles southbound of St. Louis.

As Law&Crime previously reported, the proprietor of the time care, Park Hills Ward 2 Councilwoman Spring Gray, stepped down from her relation connected the assembly pursuing Conrad's death.

The civilian suit further alleged that the time attraction was "negligent to specified a degree" that nary of the employees moving that time realized that Conrad was being suffocated, nor did they recognize the lad had died.

"[O]n accusation and belief, [Conrad] was killed and remained laying connected the level of Defendant's installation for hours without immoderate effort to find his wellbeing," the filing states.

Conrad's household provided immoderate further details successful an interrogation with St. Louis NBC affiliate KSDK.

Lacey Hardie, Conrad's aunt, told the station that her nephew was nonverbal with autism, and said it was a "nightmare" to deliberation that the toddler was successful symptom but incapable to vocalize his request for help.

Regarding the magnitude of clip Conrad's well-being was allegedly ignored, Hardie said that nap clip for kids astatine the time attraction was 12:30 p.m., but erstwhile his parent arrived astatine astir 4:15 p.m. and "found him deceased," helium was inactive connected the level wherever the time attraction worker had allegedly forced Conrad to sleep.

Hedrick is presently being held astatine the St. Francois County Jail without bond, records show. She is scheduled to look successful tribunal connected the greeting of Aug. 22.