Photo: Watson Family
A South Carolina family is reeling after their one-year-old son died during his first day at daycare. The boy, identified as Zion Lee Watson was nervous and his family wasn't sure if he would be able to spend the entire day away from his mother. But, his family said they never expected that they would never see him again.
"He was my everything. He was my everything. I loved that child y'all. I loved him. A piece of me is gone. To have him taken I don't know. I don't know how I will make it after this," Zion's mother, Shadavia Rosemond, said during a press conference.
The details around his death remain unclear, but his family is placing some of the blame on the daycare center for failing to perform CPR when Zion suffered a medical emergency.
The family says that the daycare center has not contacted them since Zion's death and they are demanding answers as to what happened.
"Why, why, why was this baby place... And why wasn't CPR going on during this time? Why? Why?" Zion's Aunt, Felicia Oliver, wondered.
Instead of a staff member providing CPR, a parent of another child jumped in and tried to help while waiting for an ambulance to arrive. When paramedics showed up, Zion was not breathing and he was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The Greenville County Coroner's Office said they will perform an autopsy to determine his cause of death. The South Carolina Department of Social Services said it is working with law enforcement to investigate the circumstances surrounding Zion's death.