Police probe death at day care

WASILLA — Police are investigating the death of a 19-month old girl who apparently strangled herself on a piece of playground equipment at a local day care center.

According to news accounts, Faith Phillips was outside Thursday playing on a toy house when she put her head through a small window, slipped and strangled herself at Illuminations Child Care on Knik-Goose Bay Road.

Day care staff rushed to perform CPR on her, and Phillips was eventually pronounced dead at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage on Sunday.

Wasilla Police Chief Gene Belden confirmed just the broadest outlines of that narrative.

“What we’re going to do is investigate it and then we’re going to submit it to the district attorney’s office,” he said.

The district attorney will, in turn, decide if anything criminal occurred that resulted in Phillips’ death.

Belden said that as of Monday afternoon, it looked like the death was an accident. In criminal law, accidents can yield criminal charges, though, if negligence is discovered.

“We aren’t far enough along in the investigation to make any real comment about that,” Belden said Monday.

A search of state records shows Illuminations Child Care and Educational Center LLC has had an active business license since 2008 and lists Brenda Fuller of Wasilla as sole owner of the center.

Calls to the child-care center Monday were not returned as of press time.

Lyn Carden with the Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce said that Phillips’ mother is a chamber employee. Carden said the chamber set up a bank account for anyone who wants to help the baby’s mother at Wells Fargo. The account number is 3754992216.

Contact reporter Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.