Daycare operator pleads guilty in 2017 death of toddler Baby Mac

The operator of the Vancouver daycare where the child known as Baby Mac died in 2017 has pleaded guilty to failing to provide the necessaries of life for nine children.

Susy Yasmine Saad entered the guilty plea in court on Monday, according to the B.C. Prosecution Service.

There is a publication ban on the names of all of the children involved in the case, except for Macallan Wayne Saini.

Baby Mac was just 16 months old when he died at Saad's unlicensed and unregistered daycare in East Vancouver on Jan. 18, 2017.

Saad was charged in 2020 follow a lengthy police investigation and a lawsuit filed by Macallan's mother, Shelley Sheppard, against Saad and Vancouver Coastal Health.

According to the lawsuit, the toddler was believed to have died after he was left unattended at Saad's Olive Branch Daycare and choked on an electrical cord. In Saad's response to the claim, she denied all allegations of negligence.

Under B.C.'s Community Care and Assisted Living Act, unlicensed child-care operators are only allowed to care for two children at a time and can be fined up to $10,000 a day for violations.

The daycare closed after Baby Mac's death.

Saad's next appearance in court is scheduled for May 4 to fix a date for sentencing. The crime carries a maximum prison term of five years.