Wisconsin man gets 15 years for 2-year-old's unlicensed daycare death

KENOSHA, Wis. (WITI) -- A 25-year-old Kenosha man has been sentenced in the death of a 2-year-old boy at an unlicensed Kenosha daycare facility in 2019.

Hunter Jones was sentenced to 15 years in prison and 10 years of extended supervision on one count of second-degree reckless homicide. Originally, he faced a first-degree reckless homicide charge in the death.

In March 2019, the boy's mother dropped him off at the Kenosha home of Jones and his wife, who ran an unlicensed daycare facility out of their home, according to the criminal complaint.

The complaint states Jones told police the boy jumped out of a playpen and bumped his forehead. Jones said he then laid the boy back in the playpen with a blanket around his body. Later, the complaint states, Jones returned to find the boy with the blanket covering his chest, face and neck. He said the boy's lips were smashed and his face was blue.

When the fire department responded to the home for a medical call, the boy was found dead. Paramedics reported that he was "cool to the touch" and appeared to have been dead for about an hour prior to their arrival.

Court filings said the boy's body had a number of injuries to his head and neck, which were not there earlier in the day. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office listed the cause of death as "undetermined." However, a doctor stated that the probably and likely cause was asphyxia.