JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The cause of death of a 15-month-old boy who died after staying at a Jacksonville daycare has been ruled "undetermined" following the conclusion of an investigation by the Department of Children and Families.
Malik Baker died in September 2018 after he was rushed from daycare Tip Top 24 Hour Learning Academy on the Westside.
DCF said Malik did not die from choking on a toy, as previous reports suggested. He also did not die from abuse or neglect by daycare staff, DCF said.
Early in the investigation into the boy's death, DCF said Malik was pronounced dead after "swallow[ing] a small toy."
DCF later clarified and said, "he became unresponsive at his daycare" and "although initial reports suggest he may have swallowed a small toy, nothing was found in the child's airway."
According to the incident report from DCF, daycare staff said they witnessed Malik playing with a yellow toy described as being "too large for him to swallow." The toy was taken away from him just a few minutes before he began coughing. Malik went unresponsive and daycare staff conducted a mouth sweep with their fingers and did not find anything in his mouth.
Baker's aunt told First Coast News the daycare called her around 11 a.m. to say Baker choked on a toy and was being rushed to the hospital.
Amber Lee, the baby's mother, has raised questions about what happened to her baby because she knew doctors did not find a toy lodged inside her child.
Lee told First Coast News staff told her they stepped away for a "few minutes" and found him not breathing.
The DCF report also states that there have been at least 10 reports involving Malik's family.