Daycare owner secures High Court bail over death of baby

Denise Benn, the owner of the Little Learners Day Care centre located at Ogle, East Coast Demerara (ECD), who was initially remanded to prison on a manslaughter charge in relation to the death of baby Oriyah Gravesande, has been placed on $500,000 bail by a High Court Judge.
Benn had first appeared before Magistrate Alisha George at the Sparendaam Magistrates’ Courts on April 6. During her arraignment, she was not required to plead to an indictable charge alleging that, on March 21, she unlawfully killed seven-month-old Oriyah Gravesande.

She had been refused bail by the magistrate, and had been remanded until May 10.
Defence lawyer Dexter Todd filed a bail petition on her behalf at the Demerara High Court. During that hearing, a Judge granted Benn bail in the sum of $500,000 on the condition that she reports to the Sparendaam Police Station periodically and lodges her passport with the court.
It was reported that on March 21, the child Oriyah Gravesande died at the Ogle facility, which authorities have confirmed had been uncertified for years, and ought not to have been in operation. An autopsy has since revealed that the infant died from haemorrhage and compression to the neck.
The child’s parents had revealed to the media that, on the day in question, they had received a call from the daycare, informing them that their daughter was unresponsive.
“They called me and tell me that our baby was unresponsive when they took her to the health centre, and by the time they reached the Georgetown Hospital, she was pronounced dead…she left home good, smiling and everything,” the mother, Shavanie Gravesande, had related.
The woman claimed she was contacted two hours after the incident, and by the time she arrived at the hospital, she was told that her baby had died. It was reported that the child had fallen off a bed and become trapped in some sheets; it is suspected that this had led to her demise.
A joint investigation into the child’s death was conducted by the Police, the Child Care and Protection Agency, and the Human Services and Social Security Ministry. Pending the probe, Benn was taken into custody for questioning, but was subsequently released on station bail and was ordered to report to the Sparendaam Police Station daily.
After the Police had completed the probe into the incident, a file was sent to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), and it was recommended that Benn be charged with manslaughter.
The woman faces up to life in prison if she is convicted.