LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- In December, 1-year-old Shivani Jishnu was found unresponsive at Kayfield Academy II in east Louisville. She was rushed to the hospital but died weeks later.
Since then, her parents have been waiting to learn the cause of death.
"Here we've got a 13-month-old child — who was perfectly healthy, like any other 13-month-old child — and this sort of thing just doesn't happen," said Terry Goodspeed, the attorney for Shivani's family. "Kayfield had told the first responders that Shivani was found unresponsive during nap time."
Goodspeed said the parents were given a different story.
"Kayfield had told the family that the teacher had stepped away for a minute and when she came back, Shivani was unresponsive," said Goodspeed.
The child was in the hospital for several weeks but never recovered.
"She was in ICU, on life support the entire time until she passed," Goodspeed said.
Goodspeed said there has been a lot of misinformation about the case.
Terry Goodspeed
"After this incident happened, the day care told the other families at Kayfield that Shivani was in a stable condition," he said. "That was not true. In fact, the day care never reached out to the family to see how she was doing."
Right now, the case is being investigated by Louisville Metro Police and The Cabinet for Health and Family Services, and an autopsy has been performed. But the cause of death is still a mystery.
"That's the big question," Goodspeed said. "They're trying to figure out what happened."
Goodspeed shared what they have learned from a doctor who treated Shivani at the hospital.
"What we do know is that Shivani went over 20 minutes without oxygen," Goodspeed said.
No one from Kayfield Academy II speak on camera for this story, but their attorney released this statement:
"Kayfield Academy and its child care facilities have served Louisville and its surrounding communities for the last twenty-five years. It is committed to delivering excellent child care services. Kayfield Academy cannot comment on any specific investigation or student for privacy and confidentiality reasons. Kayfield Academy cooperates fully with any and all regulatory and law enforcement agencies. Kayfield Academy II confirms that it was recently closed and re-opened for business Monday, January 24, 2022." ~Jason Morgan."
The day care was temporarily closed, but Goodspeed said there are even conflicting stories about why.
"What the day care has told the other families — not Shivani's but the other families — is that there was a ratio problem which was the purpose of that shutdown," Goodspeed said. "What we're learning is that's not exactly true, that there are other factors involved there."
The family and Goodspeed are asking anyone, specifically teachers and other families, who might have information to reach out to them.
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