Tot's death an accident

Layton police say they do not anticipate any criminal charges in connection with the death of an 18-month-old girl at a home day care.

Abbigale Wentz died Monday from strangulation after being caught in a window blind cord. Layton Police Sgt. James Petre said day-care provider Jill Speth had left the child for just a few moments and came back and found the little girl tied up in the cord and her airway cut off.

"The child was unattended briefly when she cared for another child in the house," he said Tuesday. "She came back down and found the baby in the cord."

Police said Speth called 911 and began giving the child CPR. The toddler was taken by ambulance to North Davis Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

On Tuesday, Petre said investigators were still looking into how many minutes lapsed between the time Speth left the toddler and she was discovered caught in the cord.

"We're dealing with one to two minutes. Evidence might suggest up to five," he said. "It's such a small time frame, it's not going to change much."

The Division of Child and Family Services was also conducting an investigation, said spokeswoman Carol Sisco.

"We have an open case to see if there's any possibility of child abuse," she said.

On Tuesday, the Utah Department of Health revoked the license of the day-care provider, which is routine in these cases. Speth has operated out of her home since October 2005. The only complaint filed against her in-home day care came in March 2006, when a site surveyor found a pain reliever bottle accessible to children.

Speth has 30 days to appeal the revocation and can continue to care for children during that time, said health department spokesman Cody Craynor.

"If police and child protective services decide the provider is not at fault, the notice may be rescinded," he said Tuesday. "However, when our licensors do a visit at the facility and we determine there's conditions that pose a risk to children, we can issue an immediate closure order."

Police said that Speth had nine children in her home when they arrived on Monday, ages 6 months to 5 years. The health department said she was licensed to have only seven children and was investigating if she was complying with that requirement.

Since 1991, approximately 200 children have died from strangling themselves on window cords, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The Window Covering Safety Council, a consortium of manufacturers and window-covering retailers, offers free kits to retrofit old blinds and window coverings to make them safe for children. They can be ordered on its Web site, www.windowcoverings.org.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com