A nanny's nap ended in conviction for wrongful death, after the baby fell from an eighth floor

A nap in the middle of taking care of a baby would have led a Colombian nanny to be convicted of the crime of wrongful death. The 15-month-old boy, who was his responsibility, died after falling from the eighth floor of a hotel in western Cali.

The incident occurred on June 15, 2016. That day the family of Panamanian citizens, parents of the minor, arrived to carry out personal proceedings and spend a holiday season. Around noon they decided to go shopping in the city and left the nanny, who had been hiring for four months, with the baby.

Later, as the caregiver then told the authorities and quoted the newspaper El País, she felt exhausted and fell asleep, but was awakened by the tragedy. The security force of the Intercontinental Hotel in Cali found around 6:00 in the afternoon the body of the minor on the main floor, it had fallen from the balcony of the building.

The nanny was Leidy Marín Jaramillo, from Medellin, Antioquia, who had accompanied the family from Panama. She was then 26 years old and was held responsible for having the minor in her charge and captured by the Prosecutor's Office.

Police Commander Sandra Marcela Narváez Peréz, explained to the newspaper El Pais, when the events occurred, that death was being studied, to find out if the minor went out to the balcony and used a chair or platform to reach the edge of the fence or, on the contrary, fell through the space between the security rails. A key possibility in the investigation of the facts.

In March 2017, the nanny was charged by the Prosecutor's Office for the crime of wrongful death. The family's lawyer, Hernando Morales, maintained that she was responsible at that time for the safety of the baby, so “by falling asleep and not taking due care, she could have led to the death of the minor,” the vallecaucano newspaper quoted.

It was not until April 20 that the woman was sentenced to 27 months in prison for the death of the child. But for the months you were under insurance, you will be able to finish your time on probation.

In addition, for several months, according to the 90Minutos newspaper, the woman has been outside the country and would be based in Chile. You have the possibility of appealing the decision to the Supreme Court of Justice.

But the process does not end there, there is another lawsuit by the family, which was filed last year, against the hotel chain. According to the defense of victims, the bars would not meet international standards.

“In the sense that the bars on the balconies did not meet international standards for the protection of minors, obviously the child falls and dies, there is a civil lawsuit against the hotel chain, it is in process, there was no conciliation last year, it is pending admission to the civil court,” the lawyer told the Blu radio station Radius.

The hotel manager, Carlos Guillermo Cabal, had assured the same station in 2016 that the balconies met the standard measures of both the city of Cali and for such constructions. However, since the beginning of the process, the defence had reports from experts who had concluded that the bars did not meet the international standard.

Thus, the process must continue to determine whether the hotel was responsible for the death of the 15-month-old child and that they would have been able to avoid the tragedy.

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