ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A woman was arrested after a baby died at the "daycare" she was running inside her one-bedroom apartment in St. Petersburg, according to police.
The St. Petersburg Police Department said around 1:46 p.m. on July 25, 2024, officers were called to Desiree Rentz's apartment when the 9-month-old baby, identified as Timothy David Smith, would not wake up from a nap.
Later, the Medical Examiner's Office conducted an autopsy and said that Smith was given cough syrup that was not recommended for children under age four, without the parents' knowledge or consent.
During an investigation, police learned that on the day of Smith's death, 31-year-old Rentz was running a "daycare" with more than a dozen children inside her one-bedroom unit located at The Reserve at Lake Pointe Apartments.
Police said she misrepresented herself to parents as a licensed daycare operator. The Florida Department of Health and DCF both confirmed she never had a daycare license. Instead, the licenses she displayed on her wall were for temporary foster care with a capacity of one.
Rentz was charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child and misrepresentation of a childcare license resulting in death. She was taken into custody with the help of the U.S. Marshals Service.
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