New Jersey mother says daycare waited to call 911 after her 4-year-old became unresponsive

Shanya Robins says she arrived to find her son, Yasmir, unresponsive and had to tell staff to call 911. Investigators say the case remains active.

Shanya Robins got a phone call from her son’s daycare shortly before noon on Aug. 14. Yasmir, 4, was unresponsive. When she arrived roughly 20 minutes later, she says, she was the one who told staff to call 911.

The Hillsborough, New Jersey, mother described that morning to CBS News New York, saying the Blooming Hearts Child Development Center contacted her after 11:42 a.m. “I got there around 12:05. He was still in the chair, limped. And I told them to call 911,” Robins said. She told the outlet she does not know whether anyone had called emergency services before she walked in.

Audio from a 911 call placed after her arrival tells a different version. The caller reports an unresponsive child, then says staff had told Robins they were calling 911 and that she had replied not to, because she was coming. Robins disputes that account.

Despite efforts to save him, Yasmir died at a hospital, according to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.

Robins’ attorney, Fallon Stephenson, raised serious questions about the response. “Based on our review of available records, CPR was not performed. There was no call to 911 in approximately 29 minutes,” she said. Her understanding, she added, is that Yasmir became unresponsive while he was being fed.

Those claims have not been confirmed by investigators. The prosecutor’s office verified that police were dispatched to the daycare but said only that the investigation remains active and ongoing, with no further details to release.

When CBS News New York visited the center, a woman who identified herself as the owner said she had no comment. Her attorney did not respond to two requests.

Yasmir had been diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth and attended Blooming Hearts since he was 4 months old. His mother says she never allowed his disability to define his limits. “He was always smiling,” Robins said. “Everybody always said, you know, as soon as you see him, he lights up the room.”

The gap between her account and the 911 recording is now the central question. Minutes matter in medical emergencies, particularly for children with complex health needs, and the timeline of who called whom, and when, could shape what investigators conclude.

For Robins, the grief is constant. “I only got four years with my child, and he’s not here,” she said. “Every day is a reminder, waking up, going to sleep, that your child is not there.”