Brooklyn Infant Dies at SoHo Day Care: Police

Just after noon today, police responded to an emergency call from SoHo Child Care, an unlicensed daycare center at 69 Greene Street in Manhattan.

There, police say they found three-month-old Karl Towndrow — who lives with his parents in Brooklyn Heights — in critical condition. He was rushed to Lennox Hill Hospital, where he was pronounced dead soon after.

An investigation into Towndrow’s cause of death is pending.

The New York Daily News reports that today was Towndrow’s first day at SoHo Child Care. According to the paper’s sources, the infant was discovered unresponsive about 15 minutes after he was put down for a nap.

In contrast, DNAinfo’s sources say that while someone at the center was feeding the child, he went into cardiac arrest.

The baby’s parents are reported to be Lee and Amber Towndrow of Brooklyn Heights. The Daily News has some heartbreaking photos of the small family posted to its website.

SoHo Child Care is run by Maryellen Strautmanis, a mother of six. The website for her daycare center is down right now, but she writes on her Yelp page that she “believes that everything in our lives is an opportunity to learn and grow, and is committed to teaching children.”

The New York Times wrote a story in 2005 on the unconventional babysitting center that Strautmanis runs out of her ”4,000-square-foot, 1970’s-era artist’s loft in SoHo.”

The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene tells Patch it’s ”working closely with law enforcement and [the Administration for Children’s Services] on an investigation.”

The department also confirms that Strautmanis was running an illegal childcare service.

This is a developing story. Refresh the page for updates.