Owner of unlicensed Vaughan daycare charged with manslaughter in toddler's death
Eva Ravikovich died at the daycare run by the accused in July of 2013
One of the owners of the Vaughan daycare where a two-year old girl died in 2013 was charged with manslaughter on Thursday.
- Owners of daycare where 2-year-old died guilty of operating illegally
- Vaughan unlicensed daycare owners face additional charge in toddler's death
- Photos show conditions inside unlicensed Ontario daycare where 2-year-old died
Olena Panfilova, 49, was charged with manslaughter a month after she, her husband Ruslan Panfilova, 47, and her daughter Karina Rabadinova, 26, were found guilty of illegally operating a childcare centre under the Day Nurseries Act.
Those charges came after Eva Ravikovich, 2, died at the daycare in July 2013. At the time, the accused did not face any criminal charges in connection with Ravikovich's death.
"Essentially what we can say is we believe the death of this child is a direct result of the actions and the in-actions of the accused persons in this case, and the charges were ultimately laid following a long investigation as well as consultations with the Crown," York Regional Police Const. Laura Nicolle told CBC News on Thursday.
The additional charge was laid when Panfilova and her daughter appeared in a Newmarket court on obstruction of justice charges, which were laid in October 2015. Police allege the two destroyed evidence relevant to the case.
"Obviously any death is taken incredibly seriously, but when it involves the death of a small child, as I said the investigators did not want to miss anything," Nicolle said.
Twenty-seven other children and 14 dogs were in the facility on the day that the little girl was found without vital signs. No more than five children under the age of ten are allowed to be cared for in an unlicensed daycare.
A health inspector also said at the time that food that was either rotten or contaminated with listeria was found inside the house.
Police say their investigation remains ongoing and are still calling on anyone with information to come forward.