Day care ordered to close after 1-year-old drowns

Authorities ordered a North Las Vegas day care to temporarily cease operations after a 1-year-old boy drowned in a backyard pool Tuesday afternoon.

North Las Vegas police spokeswoman Chrissie Coon said the 1-year-old and a 3-year-old boy fell into the pool about 3:15 p.m. The 1-year-old boy was unresponsive when emergency responders arrived, Coon said.

The boys, who were not related, were taken to University Medical Center where the 1-year-old was pronounced dead.

The 3-year-old was in good condition late Tuesday afternoon, Coon said. The names of the children were not released.

The boys were staying at Marisela’s Family Day Care, a licensed facility in a single-story home at 4731 Gunlock Circle, near Lone Mountain Road and Decatur Boulevard.

According to the Web site of the Nevada Bureau of Services for Child Care, the facility was licensed as of December and is owned and operated by Marisela Carvajal. It serves up to six children from birth to 12 years of age, according to the bureau’s Web site.

Authorities ordered the facility to close Tuesday pending the outcome of a criminal investigation, Coon said.

Coon wouldn’t say whether the backyard pool was fenced in or not.

A neighbor who lives on the street behind the home said he has often heard loud music coming from the home at night.

“There are parties there all the time,” 43-year-old Dave Oberg said. “It’s a party house.”

Sixteen-year-old Chad Wright, who lives nearby and said he rides his bicycle past the house several times a day, said he’s also heard loud music coming from the home. During the day, he said the house is quiet and he has never seen children there.

Neither recalled seeing police at the home before.

Contact reporter Lawrence Mower at lmower@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0440.