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Carol Cardillo, also pleaded not guilty in Superior Court to charges of reckless endangerment and risk of injury to a minor and asked for a jury trial. The judge set the next hearing date for Oct. 25, said the Connecticut Post.
Cardillo is accused of giving Adam Seagull diphenhydramine to get him to go to sleep. Adam died on March 22, after Fairfield police officers responded to 63 Edgewood Road to investigate the report of an unresponsive infant. Adam was transported to St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport, where he was pronounced dead.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy, listing the cause of death as acute diphenhydramine intoxication and ruling the death a homicide, police said. Diphenhydramine is an antihistamine that should not be administered to children under the age of 2, and should only be administered to children between the age of 2 and 4 after consultation with a doctor, police said.
After receiving the autopsy report, Fairfield detectives worked with the State’s Attorney’s Office, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, and several medical professionals, determining there was probable cause to arrest Cardillo, police said.
Cardillo, who had operated an unlicensed daycare in her home for about 11 years, initially told officers she had given Adam a bottle around noon on March 22 and then put him down for a nap in a play crib, police said.
When she went to check on him around 2:55 p.m., he was unresponsive, according to reports. Several attempts to revive the baby were unsuccessful, and he was pronounced dead at the hospital, police said.
Cardillo was caring for eight children ranging in age from 4 months old to 4 years old on the day Adam died, and there were four adults at the home, police said. The daycare has been closed since the death.
Adam's parents, Michelle and Matthew Seagull, did not comment following Cardillo's plea on Monday, said the Connecticut Post.
Click here to read the Connecticut Post article.
Tom Renner contributed to this report.
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