10-05-2025
Parents remember baby who died with unlicensed day care provider in Greensboro
GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — A family is left devastated after their little boy, one-year-old Jacob Machado Carlos, was found unresponsive in his car seat while at day care.
Jacob died in his car seat while in the care of Mercedes Rodriguez. She has been charged with operating a child care facility without a license, and a homicide charge is pending. The District Attorney's office says they are working with Greensboro police to come up with the right homicide charge.
Police say the parents dropped the baby off at daycare at 5:30 a.m. on the morning of April 23. By 9 a.m., the parent of another child was calling 911 when they saw something was off with Jacob.
When police arrived, the child was blue and had passed away.
'My son Jacob was very friendly. He loves to run outside and play with his sibling,' Machado Carlos's mother said, translated from Spanish.
Investigators say he was strapped in at the top of his car seat but not at the bottom between his legs.
'He was filled with love, and he was a very happy kid,' said the boy's father, translated from Spanish. 'He got that from our family. Always went up to everyone with open arms. He did that to the rest of the world.'
His parents say you could always find him with a smile on his face, enjoying the simple things around him, like picking dandelions in the yard. They wish he were still here to run around with his siblings.
'It's not only just us. It's our kids as well,' the boy's mother said. 'Our kids are suffering because they can't comprehend that they just lost their little brother.'
Now, the family is calling for justice.
'That lady is free, and our family is not getting the justice we feel we deserve,' said the boy's father.
The family came face to face with her in the courtroom, making an already difficult day that much worse.
'Yesterday was the day of his service,' the boy's mother said. 'Our final goodbye as we also cremated him. After we got through with court, our family was disappointed with the whole results.'
The judge declined to raise Rodriguez's bail until new charges are filed, so, for now, the family is left grieving their baby gone too soon.
Rodriguez is due back in court on June 11.
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