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On March 31, 2026, the Office of Childhood (OOC) received an allegation that on March 30, 2026, at around 9:50 a.m. Little Warriors Academy LLC staff Lakeishia Banks called Parent AB (parent of Child A and Child B) to come check on Child B (age 18-months-old). Lakeishia informed Parent AB that Child B had gotten into paint thinner, but they did not think he had ingested it. At 4:00 p.m., Parent AB received a phone call from Lakeishia who urgently asked Parent AB to pick up Child B because he was having trouble breathing. Parent AB took Child B to St. Louis Children's Hospital; the toxicology department called the facility to inquire about the paint thinner, but the facility said that they had thrown it away. After conducting an investigation, Compliance Inspector (CI) Patrick O'Malley has found this allegation to be substantiated based on the following evidence:
5 CSR 25-500.102(1)(M), which states: "The provider shall request the results of a criminal background check for child care staff members as required by 5 CSR 25-600.020 General Requirements."
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5 CSR 25-500.102(1)(N), which states: "Child care staff members shall have qualifying background screening results on file as required by 5 CSR 25-600.020 General Requirements."
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5 CSR 25-500.102(1)(P), which states: "The child care provider shall conduct a Family Care Safety Registry screening prior to employment for any newly hired child care staff member who has a qualifying criminal background check result."
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5 CSR 25-500.102(1)(R), which states: "Any person present at the facility during the hours in which child care is provided shall not present a threat to the health, safety, or welfare of the children."
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5 CSR 25-500.082(1)(I), which states: "All flammable liquids, matches, cleaning supplies, poisonous materials, medicines, alcoholic beverages, hazardous personal care items or other hazardous items shall be inaccessible to children."
On March 31, 2026, Compliance Inspector (CI) Patrick O'Malley conducted an unannounced inspection of Little Warriors Academy LLC and conducted interviews with director Tess Trice, staff Lakeisha Banks, and Danielle Adams.
Director Tess Trice stated that two workers from Empire Today Flooring were replacing baseboards in all the classrooms on Monday, March 30, 2026, between 9:15 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Tess affirmed that the workers were present with and had access to children. Tess affirmed that she did not have eligibility letters or Family Care Safety Registry (FCSR) checks for either worker. Tess did not recall either of the workers' names. One of the workers set a bottle of Klean Strip paint thinner on the floor next to the exterior door as he was exiting the building. Child B ran up to the bottle and grabbed it before any staff could stop him. Child B spilled some of the paint thinner on his shirt, but he did not ingest any of the paint thinner. Tess thought Child B was startled by the adults rushing at him and slopped some paint thinner on his clothes as he dropped the bottle. Child B's shirt was removed, Child B's chest was cleaned with soap and water, and poison control (PC) was called. The PC operator said that Child B would start vomiting if he had ingested paint thinner. Parent AB was contacted and arrived at the facility within a few minutes. Parent AB said that Child B looked fine to her and refused to take Child B to the hospital or home. Tess recommended several times that Child B go to the hospital, but Parent AB refused. Child B played outside and ate lunch as normal. The workers took the paint thinner can with them when they left at 10:30 a.m.
Staff Danielle Banks stated that she noticed Child B's breathing was labored at about noon. Parent AB was contacted again and arrived within a few minutes. Parent AB agreed to take Child B to the hospital.
Staff Lakeisha Banks stated that she was in the toddler classroom when both Tess and Danielle rushed over to Child B, who was near the open exterior door. Tess and Danielle had both been assisting other children, five to ten feet away from the open exterior door. Child B dropped a square, blue bottle he had been holding. Lakeisha denied seeing Child B drink from the square, blue bottle. Tess picked up Child B, smelled his shirt, and took the shirt off. Lakeisha affirmed that Tess contacted PC and Parent AB. Parent AB showed up after a few minutes but did not take Child B home.
CI O'Malley did not observe any paint thinner at the facility.
On March 31, 2026, CI O'Malley conducted an internet search for Klean Strip paint thinner which returned several photographs of the label for Klean Strip paint thinner, which shows the following: "DANGER! HARMFUL OR FATAL IF SWALLOWED, EYE IRRITANT...KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN."
On March 31 and April 2, 2026, CI O'Malley attempted to contact Parent AB via phone. On March 31, 2026, CI O'Malley left a voicemail. On April 2, 2026, the line had been disconnected. Parent AB has not returned contact.
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