An infant died at an unlicensed East Canton day care. Four months later, its operator is charged.

On the morning of March 10, Grant Simmons was, by his mother's account, a happy baby — smiling enough that she took his picture before she went to work. By that afternoon he had stopped breathing at the East Canton home where he was being watched, and he was pronounced dead at a Canton hospital. He was seven months old.

Four months later, on Tuesday, July 21, the East Canton Police Department — with help from the U.S. Marshals Service — arrested the woman who ran that day care. Melanie DiMarzio, 45, was booked into the Stark County Jail on one count of involuntary manslaughter. The charge is an accusation, not a verdict; DiMarzio is presumed innocent unless and until a court finds otherwise.

This is a hard story, and much of what people most want to know is not yet public. What follows is what has been established, clearly separated from what has not — and, because the question every parent asks after a story like this is how do I know my own kid is safe, a check you can run on any Ohio provider.

What happened on March 10

Police and Osnaburg Township EMS were called to a home on South Market Street in East Canton for a report of a baby who was not breathing. According to accounts of the 911 call, Grant had been put down for a nap; when the day care operator went to wake him, he was blue and unresponsive. Paramedics began life-saving measures and rushed him to Aultman Hospital in Canton, where he was pronounced dead.

Grant's mother, Missy Williams, described the day to Jordan Miller News that month. She said she had known the operator's family for years and trusted the arrangement, that Grant had recently recovered from a bout of influenza B and an ear infection, and that he had seemed fine when she dropped him off. She got a routine message during her shift — he had gone through his diaper — and then a call that something was terribly wrong. "I don't understand how this happened," she said.

A note on his age, because coverage has differed: most outlets have called Grant an "8-month-old," while News 5 Cleveland reported "7-month-old." His mother's account resolves it — he would have turned eight months old the day after he died. He was, precisely, a day short of eight months.

What police say they found

The reason this became a criminal case, and not only a family's private grief, is what officers reported finding once they were inside.

The home day care was unlicensed. According to court records and police accounts summarized across WKYC, Cleveland 19 and WHIO, one of the operators told officers she was caring for between five and 10 children at the house for about $45 a day, paid in cash — and that she used no baby monitors or cameras, had no emergency plan in case of a fire, had no CPR training, and did not have appropriate supervision or sleeping arrangements for infants and toddlers. Those are the operator's own reported statements to police; they describe the conditions, not a proven cause of death.

On March 20, Stark County Common Pleas Judge Frank Forchione signed a temporary restraining order shutting the operation down, barring both Melanie M. DiMarzio and Alexander J. DiMarzio from providing any child care in Stark County, including at their home. The civil complaint alleged violations of Ohio's child care laws and local zoning rules. A preliminary injunction hearing was set for early April.

The charge — and why this is a state case, not federal

The July 21 arrest was announced by East Canton Police Chief Christopher Hartlaub, who credited "an extensive investigation" by his department and thanked the U.S. Marshals Service "for their invaluable assistance in locating and apprehending the suspect." That Marshals involvement has led some readers to assume this is a federal matter. It is not.

Involuntary manslaughter is an Ohio state charge, filed in Stark County; it is a felony under state law. The U.S. Marshals routinely help local police find and arrest people — that is what happened here, and it is the only federal thread in the case. The prosecution, if it proceeds, will be the State of Ohio's.

As of this writing, only Melanie DiMarzio has been criminally charged. Alexander DiMarzio was named alongside her in the civil order that closed the day care, but no criminal charge against him has been reported.

What Ohio actually requires of a day care

Strip this story to its center and it is about a line most parents never think to check: the difference between a babysitter and a licensed child care program.

In Ohio, child care is regulated by the Department of Children and Youth (the function moved out of the old Department of Job and Family Services in 2024). Home-based programs come in two tiers — Type A and Type B family child care homes — and once a provider is paid to care for children from more than one family beyond a small number, the state generally requires a license or registration. Getting one is not a formality: it means background checks on caregivers, health and safety inspections, training that includes CPR and first aid, rules on safe infant sleep, and limits on how many children one adult may supervise. The day care in this case, by the operators' own reported account, had none of that.

Here is the part that turns all of this into something you can act on today: every licensed program in Ohio is listed — with its inspection history — in a free state database. If you can't find a provider there, and they can't show you a license, that absence is the single loudest warning sign, and it is exactly the one at the heart of this case.

The check below walks through it, starting with that lookup. It is informational, not legal advice — it can't tell you whether a specific provider is breaking the law — but it turns "I trusted them" into a short list of things you can actually verify.

Check Your Child's Care

Is your child care licensed and safe? An Ohio verification check

Answer seven plain questions about a child-care provider and see, check by check, whether it shows the signals of licensed, safe care in Ohio — starting with the one verification that matters most: a license you can look up in the state's own database.

Uses: I can find this provider in Ohio's official Child Care Search, or they show a current state license or registration. · The caregivers have passed state and FBI background checks — and will show proof. · At least one caregiver on site is currently trained in infant CPR and first aid. · Infants are put to sleep alone, on their back, in a crib or bassinet — no couches, adult beds, blankets, or pillows. · There are few enough children per adult for constant supervision, and infants are checked often while sleeping. · There is a written fire and medical emergency plan, and working smoke and carbon-monoxide alarms. · I can arrive unannounced and see where my child sleeps, eats, and plays.

This tool is general safety information, not legal advice. It cannot tell you whether a specific provider is breaking the law or is safe. Verify any provider's license in Ohio's official Child Care Search (childcaresearch.ohio.gov), review its inspection history, and report a suspected unlicensed operation to the Ohio Department of Children and Youth at 1-844-234-5437.

I can find this provider in Ohio's official Child Care Search, or they show a current state license or registration.Search the free state database at childcaresearch.ohio.gov — it lists every licensed program and its inspection history.The caregivers have passed state and FBI background checks — and will show proof.At least one caregiver on site is currently trained in infant CPR and first aid.Infants are put to sleep alone, on their back, in a crib or bassinet — no couches, adult beds, blankets, or pillows.There are few enough children per adult for constant supervision, and infants are checked often while sleeping.There is a written fire and medical emergency plan, and working smoke and carbon-monoxide alarms.I can arrive unannounced and see where my child sleeps, eats, and plays.

Check my situation

Example — adjust the inputs above for your situation

Not verified as licensed — the single biggest red flag

Every child-care program licensed in Ohio is listed — with its inspection history — in the state's free Child Care Search. A paid provider caring for children from more than one family who is not in that database, and cannot show a license, is exactly the warning sign at the center of cases like this one. Confirm the license first; the other checks only matter once that one is met.

Listed in Ohio's official Child Care Search (or shows a current state license)

Not met

Caregivers have passed state and FBI background checks

Not met

A caregiver on site is trained in infant CPR and first aid

Not met

Infants sleep alone, on their back, in a crib — no couches, adult beds, or blankets

Not met

Few enough children per adult for constant supervision

Not met

Written fire and medical emergency plan, with working smoke and CO alarms

Not met

You can arrive unannounced and see where your child sleeps and plays

Not met

• ※ Look the provider up at childcaresearch.ohio.gov. If they are not there and cannot show a license, that is the warning sign — verify before you leave your child, and you can report a suspected unlicensed operation to Ohio at 1-844-234-5437.

Copy resultShare this toolReset

How this is calculated

No scoring and no model output. The checker mirrors Ohio's own child-care rules as published by the Department of Children and Youth: every licensed program (and its inspection history) appears in the state's free Child Care Search, and licensed care requires background checks, safe-sleep practices, adult-to-child supervision limits, emergency planning, and CPR/first-aid readiness. Each answer is reported back to you as a met or unmet check; a provider you cannot confirm as licensed is flagged first, because that is the verification every other safeguard depends on.

Data as of July 20, 2026 · verified July 20, 2026 · v1

Assumptions, limitations & sources

Assumptions

• · You are asking about care in Ohio — other states run their own licensing systems and databases.
• · “Confirmed” means you have actually verified the item — seen the license, the certificate, or the practice — not simply been told about it.

Limitations

• · This is an informational safety check, not legal advice and not an official determination of whether a provider is operating legally.
• · Only Ohio's Department of Children and Youth can confirm a provider's license status — always verify in the official Child Care Search.
• · A license is a floor, not a guarantee: licensed programs can still have violations, which is why the state posts their inspection reports.

Sources

• Ohio Child Care Search — verify a provider's license and inspection history — Ohio Department of Children and Youth, checked July 20, 2026
• Ohio Department of Children and Youth — Child Care (for families) — Ohio Department of Children and Youth, checked July 20, 2026
• Ohio Department of Children and Youth — child care licensing for providers — Ohio Department of Children and Youth, checked July 20, 2026
• Ohio — report suspected child care fraud or unlicensed care (1-844-234-KIDS) — Office of Governor Mike DeWine, checked July 20, 2026

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The questions readers are asking

Does Melanie DiMarzio have a criminal record? Nothing has been reported. East Canton police said that because this is an active case, they are releasing no further details, so any prior record has not been made public.

Is there a bond? Who is her attorney? Neither has been reported. She was booked Tuesday; bond is typically set at an initial court appearance, and no defense attorney of record has been named publicly. We will add both once they appear on the Stark County docket.

What did the family say? Grant's mother spoke publicly in March, after the day care was shut down — the account above. We have seen no public statement from the family responding to Tuesday's arrest, which is common and understandable this early.

Is it federal or state? State. See above — the Marshals only assisted with the arrest.

How long had the day care been operating, and were other parents' children there? Reporting confirms the operator told police she watched five to 10 children, so other families were affected — but how long the operation had run, and whether any other parent has spoken publicly, has not been established. We are not going to guess at either.

Was a cause of death ever ruled? Grant's body was sent to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office for autopsy. As of the last public update, that examination was pending, and no cause-of-death ruling has been reported. A criminal charge does not require one to be public, but it will matter a great deal to the case.

Why this matters, and what happens next

Cases like this one are rare, and it would be wrong to read them as an indictment of home-based child care, which is a lifeline for millions of working families and, when licensed, is inspected and accountable in ways an informal arrangement never is. The lesson here is narrower and more useful: trust is not verification, and in Ohio the verification is free and takes about a minute.

What to watch next: DiMarzio's first court appearance and any bond decision; whether prosecutors take the case to a grand jury; the medical examiner's findings; and whether the civil injunction that closed the day care is made permanent. This story will be updated as those steps are confirmed — and only when they are confirmed.