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Megan Richelle Bucha, 30, 87 Forbes Road, Philipsburg, is charged with involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, assault, endangering the welfare of children and recklessly endangering another person. After a preliminary hearing Wednesday, District Judge James Hawkins ruled that there is enough evidence for all charges to be sent to the county Court of Common Pleas. Her bail was set at $50,000, unsecured.
The charges stem from an incident Oct. 12, 2007, when an 8-month-old infant at Bucha's day care was injured by a wooden toy stove that fell on her. She was airlifted to Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh and died the next day.
William Woolworth, an emergency medical technician with Mo Valley Emergency Medical Services, said Bucha came running out of the home with the unconscious infant in her arms, the child's head back and arms down. She was treated for an injury to the back of her skull. Bucha told Woolworth the child was trying to climb up on a kitchen set when it tipped over on her and she fell backward.
Paramedic Theo Waksmunsk described the child as "rag doll limp" and unresponsive. She said Bucha, upset and crying, told her a toy stove fell on the child. She supplied a medical history of the child, which helped in her treatment. Waksmunski said the child had a large bruise covering the back of her head.
Debra Koenig of the Department of Public Welfare, who inspects day care centers, testified that Bucha had a group home license allowing her to provide care for up to 12 children. According to the guidelines, Bucha was not in compliance the morning of the incident. There were seven children in the home but only one adult. Bucha's day care had no previous violations.
State police Cpl. Svin Donaldson testified that Bucha told him that on the morning of the incident, she was alone with the children because her employee was running late.
He said Bucha told him she started breakfast. The victim was placed on the floor about 15-20 feet from the table. Bucha was cleaning up and scraping food from their bowls into the garbage when she heard the victim crying. She turned to see her lying on the floor with the toy stove beside her. She picked the baby up; she was limp. Bucha called her neighbor, who was the victim's grandmother and a nurse, but she was not at home. She then called 911.
When another parent arrived to drop off his children, she had him watch the others while she met the ambulance and then traveled to the helicopter landing site.
Donaldson described the stove as wooden and about 24 inches in height.
A report from a physician at the Children's Hospital said the injury was not consistent with a toy falling on her, but was consistent with shaken baby syndrome, Donaldson said.
An autopsy report listed the cause of death as accidental and says the skull fracture was the result of blunt force trauma, which corroborates Bucha's story. If the child could pull herself up to standing, her weight would pull the stove, causing it to fall on her, the report said. It also listed welts on the child's cheek as being consistent with a fall onto a carpeted floor. The report comments that there was an initial concern of a shaken injury but the autopsy found the injury to be consistent with blunt force trauma to the back of the head.
John Sughrue, attorney for Bucha, noted the autopsy supported the story she told police and the emergency responders from "day one." He said the evidence that it was an accidental death is overwhelming and that the district attorney should not be making a criminal case of it.
He noted the autopsy "even talks about abrasions on her cheeks that were consistent with a fall onto the carpet." And if it were a case of shaken baby syndrome as in the conflicting report, Sughrue said there is no evidence his client was responsible. He also pointed out there is nothing in the affidavit of probable cause that mentioned the shaken baby theory.
Sughrue said the charges Bucha is facing require some intent or reckless conduct and mentioned that even if a second person had been in the home, the accident could still have occurred. He referred to the charges as "a stretch on these facts."
"How you can file these charges boggles my mind," he said.
District Attorney William A. Shaw Jr. defended the charges.
"Why pursue these charges? Because 8-month-old children don't die every day from toys falling on them," Shaw said.
He pointed out that Bucha had a responsibility to have the required number of employees since the parents had trusted her with their children's care. He suggested it was a stressful morning and in a brief moment Bucha snapped and shook the child, causing her death.
"No one is saying she intended to kill that child," he said, but even if her story is true she was still negligent and reckless for taking on too many children.
Hawkins said it is not his job to make conclusions in these cases, and ruled to send the charges to court.
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Reported by Julie Rae Rickard, C-E Correspodent. Email: jrickard@thecourierexpress.com.
