Mom sues, seeks answers after special-needs son chokes on glove, dies at Suntree daycare
"They can't do the basic fundamentals of care. And it's just an outrageous case. We want answers. The family wants answers," attorney Douglas McCarron said.
Rick NealeTarionn "Tari" Hanner loved water parks, stuffed animals and sunshine — in fact, his family kept no blinds on the windows or sliding-glass door of their Palm Bay home so the sun's rays could stream inside.
Tari's life unexpectedly ended six days after Thanksgiving. The 13-year-old special-needs child choked to death on a latex glove while he was left unsupervised at Angels on Earth, a Suntree daycare for medically complex children, his family's attorney said.
"Healing hasn't even begun. It's been a horror story," Tari's mother, Kiyana Durham, said during a Thursday press conference outside Angels on Earth, flanked by relatives and friends.
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Durham filed a wrongful death negligence lawsuit against Angels on Earth in January, seeking damages of more than $50,000 and information on her son's death. Litigation remains ongoing.
Douglas McCarron, the family's Coral Gables attorney, said his firm is working to determine who was in the room when Tari died, who was supervising during that shift, and what events led to his death.
McCarron said surveillance video exists from inside the care center, but he has not yet seen the footage.
"They can't do the basic fundamentals of care. And it's just an outrageous case. We want answers. The family wants answers," McCarron told the assembled media.
Messages seeking comment were left Thursday with an Angels on Earth phone receptionist and the company's Miami defense attorneys in the wrongful death lawsuit, Michele Morales and Karina Quinteiro.
"While our hearts go out to the grieving family, we are unable to comment on the pending litigation," Morales said in an email.
Angels on Earth also operates daycare centers in Orlando, Lakeland and Haines City. The Suntree daycare center was closed Thursday, and the company website was not functioning. The press conference took place just outside the Suntree facility's front door. Nearby, six white vans emblazoned with Angels on Earth imagery were parked in the Pineda Plaza lot.
In a twist last week, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announced Angels on Earth administrator Carlos Cabrera had been arrested and charged with Medicaid provider fraud, a first-degree felony.
Cabrera is accused of bilking Florida Medicaid out of at least $422,353 from July 2021 through December 2021 by submitting fraudulent claims for services that should have been provided to children with medically complex conditions, according to a March 22 press release and an arrest warrant.
“This defendant used vulnerable children and their families for his own financial gain by overbilling and stealing from a taxpayer-funded program," Moody said in the press release.
Cabrera, who lives in Orlando, entered a not guilty plea Tuesday in Orange County Circuit Court. A woman who answered the phone at the Orlando office of Jay Rooth, Cabrera's defense attorney in that case, said they were not interested in commenting.
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The Suntree Angels on Earth facility has been licensed since October 2020 with the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration as a prescribed pediatric extended care center. PPECs provide continual care for children with medically complex conditions in a nonresidential setting.
Tari attended Lockmar Elementary in Palm Bay, Shiloh Christian Academy in Melbourne, and Bread of Life Christian Academy in Palm Bay.
"I'm so hurt. I've been depressed. I didn't even know what depression was until this happened," Tari's father, Tarence Hanner Sr., told the media.
"It's awful. It's something I'm going to have to live with for the rest of my life," he said.
Durham said she is fighting her hardest "just to stay sane" since her son's death.
"What helps me the most is just thinking about the good times. His smile. His unconditional love that he displayed to each and every person that he came in contact with," Durham said.
Rick Neale is the South Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @RickNeale1