The parents of 16-month-old Maddy Mitchell have filed a lawsuit against former day care worker Alexandra Coffey, alleging gross negligence led to their daughter's suffocation on her first day at the facility. Coffey faces ongoing involuntary manslaughter charges from the May 19, 2025, incident at Creative Beginnings in Lenoir, North Carolina. The suit claims Coffey lay on the child while using her phone.
On May 19, 2025, 16-month-old Maddy Mitchell attended her first day at Creative Beginnings day care in Lenoir, North Carolina. According to a lawsuit filed by her parents in Caldwell County on Monday, worker Alexandra Coffey, 30, attempted to make Maddy nap on a sleeping mat. When Maddy got up, Coffey allegedly grabbed her, placed her face down, covered her head with a blanket, held her legs down with her own legs, and laid her upper body over Maddy's torso and neck area. The suit states Coffey remained in this position while scrolling on her phone, as Maddy kicked her free leg for several minutes until it stopped moving. Coffey then left the motionless toddler under the blanket for three hours without checking, before discovering her in early rigor mortis. First responders could not revive her. Authorities ruled the death a homicide by smothering from compression asphyxia. Coffey was arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter but bonded out of Caldwell County Detention Center. Her criminal case continues, with no next court date scheduled; her legal team has not responded to the civil filing. Maddy's parents seek a jury trial for compensatory and punitive damages. Local reports indicate North Carolina's Department of Health and Human Services suspended Creative Beginnings' license, leading to its shutdown.