Infant dies at neighborhood day-care center

A 4-month-old girl was found unresponsive in a Jamaica Plain day-care center yesterday afternoon and died after efforts to revive her failed, according to authorities and officials affiliated with the center.

An initial investigation indicated that the infant was the victim of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, said David Estrada, a Boston police spokesman. He said the investigation will continue until an autopsy determines the cause of death.

Estrada said an emergency call about an unresponsive baby came in at 2:40 p.m. He did not have a time of death.

The day-care center, which has no official name, is run from the 10 Egleston St. home of Patria Guerrero, who was caring for the baby when she discovered that the child was not breathing, according to Wayne Ysaguirre, vice president of Family Child Care Programs.

That organization is part of Associated Early Care & Education, a Boston not-for-profit that contracts with the state to provide day-care for low-income families. Guerrero subcontracted with Associated Early Care, Ysaguirre said.

Ysaguirre and relatives of the infant said her name was Alandra, but they would not divulge her last name.

"She was a happy and beautiful baby girl," Evelyn Abreu of Jamaica Plain, who said she was a cousin of the baby's mother. "It's very sad; we're just trying to sort things out."

Abreu said the baby's mother was attending school and leaving Alandra at the day-care center.

Guerrero lives at the Egleston Street house with her husband and two sons, according to Reyito Santiago, a neighbor who said he has known the family for 15 years. Santiago said the day-care center is in the basement of the building.

The Guerreros are "a very good family, well organized -- educated," Santiago said.

He said he has seen parents drop off children in the morning and pick them up later in the day, and has never heard of any problems with Guerrero's day care.

Guerrero has been licensed to provide home day care since 1995, according to Constantia Papanikolaou, spokeswoman for the state Office of Child Care Services. There are no complaints and no disciplinary actions on file against Guerrero, Papanikolaou said. Guerrero was licensed to care for 10 children.

Alandra was one of five children, all under age 5, who Guerrero was watching yesterday, Ysaguirre said. Guerrero has subcontracted with his company since 1996, he said.

Ysaguirre said that when Guerrero noticed the baby was not breathing, she called 911, and then called Ysaguirre's office so someone could come over and tend to the remaining children while she went to Children's Hospital with the baby.

Gernica Baez, a neighbor who lives above Guerrero, said she heard the ambulances early yesterday afternoon and then saw police arrive.

"She has a license to take care of children," Baez said. "That is what she does for a living. Everyone here knows that."

Johnny Diaz and Patricia Wen of the Globe staff contributed to this story, with Globe correspondents Heather Allen and Jared Stearns.