Hearing set for owners of San Jose daycare where 2 drowned

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) — Two women, who co-owned and operated a San Jose daycare where toddlers drowned, remain out of jail as their case slowly moves toward a trial.

Nina Fathizadeh and her mother, Shahin Gheblehshenas, are set to appear in the Santa Clara County Hall of Justice for a preliminary hearing on August 4. They are facing nine counts of child endangerment-related charges.

The toddlers, Payton Cobb and Lillian Jade Hanan, drowned in a backyard pool at Happy Happy Day Care at 1054 Fleetwood Avenue on Monday, October 2, 2023. Payton was 18 months old and Lillian was 16 months old when they died.

Happy Happy Day Care was understaffed, investigators said, and there were no adults watching the young children when they either “fell or jumped into the pool,” the district attorney’s office wrote. A door to the gate that block off the pool had been propped open by Gheblehshenas’ husband while he was watering plants, a San Jose police report states. No one closed the gate before parents began arriving that morning to drop off their children, according to the police report.

Gheblehshenas, 64, and Fathizadeh, 41, remain out of custody on bail pending trial.

In recent months, their defense attorneys attempted to reach an early resolution with a judge to avoid going to trial, court records show. As of this week, prosecutors are still pursuing multiple felony charges against the daycare owners, including willful cruelty to a child causing great bodily harm or death.

On August 4, a judge will decide if prosecutors have enough evidence for the case to stand trial. If convicted, Gheblehshenas and Fathizadeh could face 14 years in state prison, prosecutors said.

A San Jose Police Department report states that a Happy Happy Day Care employee called out sick on the day of the drownings. Gheblehshenas lived in the Fleetwood Avenue home where the daycare was operated.

Fathizadeh was the only employee present that day because Gheblehshenas left and went to a second, unlicensed daycare operated out of Fathizadeh’s home, according to the report.

After putting a baby in a crib, Fathizadeh opened a sliding door and told Payton, Lillian, and a 2-year-old boy to play in the backyard, police said.

Fathizadeh was busy in the kitchen when three children entered the backyard pool, police said. She remained in the kitchen “with all three children out of view for at least five minutes,” the police report states.

“While making breakfast, Fathizadeh left one child in a crib and let three of the children into the rear patio play area – unsupervised and out of her sight. The play area is set up in the backyard adjacent to a pool surrounded by a five-foot fence,” the DA’s office wrote.

When Fathizadeh went into the backyard and realized that the gate was propped open, she found a 2-year-old boy floating in the shallow end.

She called 911, gave the boy CPR, and woke up her brother, who was sleeping in the house, according to the police report. The brother searched the backyard, found the two toddlers floating in the deep end, and pulled the girls out of the water. After paramedics arrived, the 2-year-old boy was revived, and the girls were pronounced deceased.

Following the deadly pool incident, state officials immediately shut down Happy Happy Day Care. Its license to operate was suspended by the Community Care Licensing Division of the California Department of Social Services.