Daycare owner held for trial in boy's death

PENNDEL, Pa. - October 14, 2009 (WPVI) -- The owner of a Bucks County daycare will be held for trial in the death of a little boy.

Rimma Shvartsman appeared in court for a preliminary hearing on Wednesday. She will be arraigned on November 13th.

She is charged with involuntary manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child in the death of Daniel Slutsky, 2.

The manslaughter charge carries a maximum of seven years in prison.

It happened at the Fairy Tales Daycare at 239 Highland Avenue in Penndel on July 1st.

Investigators said Slutsky had been driven to the daycare center by Shvartsman, who is also a neighbor of the boy's family.

Slutsky was picked up around 9:00 a.m., and arrived at the daycare around 9:30 a.m.

D.A. Michelle Henry said Shvartsman forgot about the child for most of the day, and he was left in a minivan across the street.

It was around 84 degrees that afternoon, with the sun bearing down in the minivan all day long.

The doors were locked and the windows were rolled up, investigators said.

Investigators say the boy was found on the floor of the SUV, having apparently gotten out of his carseat and struggling to get out. The temperature inside the minivan was found to be 108 degrees.

Around 4:30 p.m., the D.A. says Shvartsman returned to the minivan to find Slutsky inside.

The boy was brought into the daycare.

Witnesses saw officers rushing Slutsky out to an emergency vehicle and said the boy looked lifeless.

The boy was taken to St. Mary Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

Slutsky is ruled to have died from hyperthermia.

Shvartsman's attorney, Michael Mustokoff, called the boy's death a tragedy and said no punishment the state could impose is harsher than the penalty his client is already paying.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

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