A preliminary hearing held over three days resulted in a judge finding sufficient evidence to bind two San Jose daycare operators over child endangerment charges. The defendants, Shahin Gheblehshenas, 66, and Nina Fathizadeh, 42, ran a home-based daycare and each face three felony counts tied to two toddlers who drowned and a third child who entered the pool and survived. Prosecutors allege negligence that left children near an unsecured pool on Oct. 2, 2023, including a failure to ensure a safety gate was closed. Fathizadeh also faces seven misdemeanor counts for allegedly transporting seven children without proper restraints. Investigators found staffing shortfalls on the day of the drownings.
SAN JOSE The mother-daughter operators of a San Jose daycare center where two toddlers drowned in a swimming pool in 2023 were held to answer to charges of child endangerment by a judge following a preliminary hearing this week. The ruling, which means that there is sufficient evidence for the case to proceed to trial, was passed down by Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Ronald Toff, following a three-day preliminary hearing that concluded Thursday.
Shahin Gheblehshenas, 66, and Nina Fathizadeh, 42, who ran home-based Happy Happy Daycare in the Almaden neighborhood, each face three counts of felony child endangerment one count for each of the two toddlers who died, and another for a third child who survived after also going into the pool. Prosecutors allege negligence by the pair that resulted in the children being near a pool unsupervised on Oct. 2, 2023.
Fathizadeh also faces seven misdemeanor counts of child endangerment for a separate incident in which she allegedly transported seven children in a vehicle without proper child restraints. What is clear after the preliminary hearing is that this is a tragedy all the way around, said Carlos Vega, a defense attorney for Gheblehshenas and Fathizadeh. Our hearts go out to the families.
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