A grieving Missouri mother has filed a lawsuit claiming her 3-year-old son, Conrad Ashcraft, was left dead for hours at a local daycare before staff even noticed.
Conrad, a neurodivergent toddler described by loved ones as sweet, joyful, and deeply loved, was found unresponsive and face-down on a pillow by his mother.
Tara Williams, at Poppy’s Playhouse 2 in Park Hills around 4:15 p.m. on Friday, May 16.
“His mom was there at approximately 4:15 p.m. and found him deceased,” said Lacey Hardie, the child’s aunt, in a statement to KSDK.
According to a redacted lawsuit reviewed by PEOPLE, the family alleges that a daycare worker used their lower body to apply pressure to Conrad’s chest or abdomen in an attempt to force him to sleep.
