The parents of 16-month-old Maddy Mitchell have filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging a former daycare worker in Lenoir, North Carolina, lay on top of their daughter until she stopped moving and later died from smothering and compression asphyxia.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in Caldwell County, names former Creative Beginnings Daycare employee Alexandra Coffey, who has already been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the child's May 19, 2025, death.
The complaint accuses Coffey of gross negligence and seeks compensatory and punitive damages to be determined by a jury, according to People.
According to the filing, Maddy was attending daycare for the first time when Coffey allegedly tried to force her to nap by placing her face down on a sleeping mat and covering her head with a blanket.
When the toddler moved, Coffey allegedly grabbed her, put her back on the mat, pinned her legs with her own, and then lay her upper body across the child's upper torso and neck until the girl's leg stopped moving.
The lawsuit further claims Coffey remained lying on the toddler while scrolling on her phone, then got up and left Maddy on the floor under the blanket without checking on her for about three hours, Yahoo News reported.
When Coffey finally checked, Maddy was unresponsive, already stiff with early rigor mortis, and emergency responders were unable to revive her.
The North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the manner of death a homicide and listed the cause as smothering due to compression asphyxia. State health officials later suspended Creative Beginnings Daycare's license and ordered the center to close following the incident.
Attorneys for the family say the events are documented on daycare surveillance video, which they argue removes any uncertainty about what happened. Coffey's legal team has not yet filed a response to the civil complaint, and the criminal manslaughter case remains pending, as per Law and Crime.
