A woman who operates a licensed day-care business out of her Thornton home ran over an 18-month-old boy as she backed out of her driveway, Thornton police spokesman Matt Barnes said Friday.
The child was taken to a local hospital where he later died.
Barnes identified the woman as 34-year-old Robyn Miller and the victim as Riley Lawyer, also of Thornton.
Miller had just loaded children into the vehicle Thursday afternoon and started backing up, believing all were inside, Barnes said.
As she backed up, she heard a bump, stopped the car and found she had hit Riley, the police spokesman said.
She immediately called 911 and tried to administer first aid to the child, Barnes said.
When police arrived at the home in the 9000 block of Jackson Street about 4:40 p.m. Thursday, they found Riley lying in the driveway, suffering from severe head trauma.
Riley Lawyer was one of the children Miller cared for at her day-care business, Barnes said.
“Robyn Miller has been very cooperative and is emotionally devastated,” Barnes said.
He said four children were in the car with Miller at the time of the accident.
Barnes said drugs and alcohol are not suspected in the accident.
The investigation is ongoing. The case will be presented to the district attorney, who will decide whether charges will be filed, Barnes said. A potential charge could be careless driving resulting in death, he added.
Liz McDonough, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Human Services, said Miller has had a day-care license for up to six children in the home since February 2004.
The license allows her to care for children up to the age of 13, McDonough said.
“There have been no complaints, no child-abuse incidents and no critical incidents” at the Miller home in the more than six years Miller has been licensed, McDonough said.
She said human services officials would await the final police report before determining if there are any licensing issues that need to be investigated.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
