Woman found guilty of murder in death of infant at Kansas day care
A woman was convicted Thursday of second-degree murder after an infant was found fatally wounded at a Kansas day care facility.
Carrody M. Buchhorn, 44, faces about 10 years in prison, according to the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office.
Oliver Ortiz, then 9 months old, was found Sept. 29, 2016 by emergency personnel at the Sunshine Kids Group Daycare Center in Eudora, Kan.
An autopsy revealed the infant had suspicious injuries, including a fractured skull and bruising on his head.
An investigation revealed Buchhorn was the last person to be in contact with Oliver before emergency personnel responded, according to Douglas County prosecutors.
The state claimed during the trial that Buchhorn caused Oliver’s death by applying “blunt force trauma to the … child.”
The parents of Oliver Ortiz filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Johnson County District Court against Gina Brunton and Morgan Eric Brunton, the operators of the day care center.
The day care’s license was suspended by state officials after Oliver died. The operators did not contest the suspension and voluntarily turned in the license, according to a spokesman for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.