Sitter’s father speaks about baby’s death

In June, a family opened its northwest valley home to three infants and four children. The children's mother, a close friend of the family, stood accused of mistreating her kids, and the county decided they needed a temporary residence.

Last week, one of the infants, 4-month-old Danielle Holt, was found dead by the foster parents' 14-year-old daughter while she was baby-sitting the children.

The teen's father is now speaking out, hoping to counter some of the criticism and speculation that has been aimed at his family.

His 8-year-old son still cries at night over the death, and his 11-year-old daughter told him that they now "live in a sad house," he said.

"I loved that baby like you wouldn't believe. We loved her and the other kids like they were our own," said the 47-year-old man who asked that his name not be used out of fear of reprisal.

Danielle, who was a triplet, was found dead in her crib at the family's home in the 8700 block of Shady Pines Drive, near Durango Drive and El Capitan Way, about 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

The death remained under investigation Monday, but Danielle had no obvious signs of abuse, and authorities said her death doesn't appear suspicious, said Lisa Teele, supervisor of the Metropolitan Police Department's abuse and neglect unit.

Authorities took Danielle's six siblings to Child Haven and child protective services opened an investigation into the temporary foster family because of the death, the father said.

As for the fact that three babies and six other children were left in the care of a 14-year-old, Teele said there is no law that would specifically bar someone of that age from baby-sitting so many children, but the question of whether it was wise to leave nine children in the care of a 14-year-old remains.

The father said his daughter is responsible enough to watch the children and was familiar with caring for the infants. She had changed the babies' diapers, clothed and fed them.

"There are immature 14-year-olds, but my daughter isn't one of them," he said. "They (media reports) make it sound like a 14-year-old couldn't handle those kids in our house. She could."

He also said, however, that it was the only time since June 20, when his family had taken temporary custody of the seven additional children, that his daughter had been left alone with her younger sister, brother and the seven foster children.

All of them were either napping or watching a movie when he left them with the teen Thursday evening, he said.

He said his wife put Danielle and the two other triplets down for a nap before she left for work about 5 p.m. The father, who works from home, left the house around 6 p.m. for a business meeting, he said.

About an hour and a half later, the teen called her father and told him it looked like Danielle was not breathing. He told her to call 911, he said. A 911 dispatcher instructed the 14-year-old to perform CPR on Danielle, which she did until authorities arrived, he said.

"I tell her I'm proud of what she did. She did better than most adults would do in that situation," he said.

He said that an official with the county coroner's office also told him that Danielle had likely been dead for several hours, which means that it's likely the infant died while he and his wife were at home.

"Nothing my daughter did or didn't do would have changed anything. We want to know how she died as much as anyone," he said.

Clark County Coroner Michael Murphy said medical examiners don't have the answer to that question yet.

Whatever the determination, the teen will likely need counseling because it has been such a traumatic experience for her, her father said.

He also said she probably won't baby-sit again because he doesn't want to put her in a position that would make her anxious about possibly getting blamed for anything that might go wrong.

"It's just not worth it," he said.