NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT — A Connecticut mother is demanding answers after her 2-year-old son, Saunti Reynolds, tragically died following a choking incident at the YWCA New Britain daycare.

Saunti’s mother, Shamyra Cooke, said she dropped her son off at the daycare that morning expecting him to return home safely later that day.

Instead, around 11:47 a.m., Cooke received a call from the daycare director informing her that Saunti had choked on a meatball.

Cooke said she was told her son was okay but was asked to come to the daycare.

When she arrived, however, she said the situation was far different from what the initial phone call had led her to believe.

First responders were performing CPR on Saunti. The toddler was reportedly intubated and unresponsive before being rushed to a hospital.

He was later pronounced d*ad.

For Cooke, the communication from the daycare made an already devastating situation even more difficult.

She criticized the description that her son was “fine,” saying those words did not prepare her for the life-threatening emergency she encountered upon arrival.

The tragedy later prompted an investigation by the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood.

According to state regulators, the YWCA New Britain was cited for multiple violations discovered during the investigation.

Among the findings was a failure to adequately minimize choking hazards. Regulators said food served to toddlers should have been cut into pieces measuring no more than half an inch in diameter.

Investigators also identified concerns involving supervision and the daycare’s response to the emergency.

The investigation reportedly found that emergency services calls were delayed and that first aid was not administered properly.

The findings have raised painful questions for Saunti’s family about whether additional precautions could have prevented the tragedy.

For Cooke, the loss is impossible to separate from the circumstances surrounding her son’s final moments.

She had entrusted the daycare with her toddler believing he would be supervised and protected while she was away.

Instead, she received a phone call that changed her family forever.

Saunti was only 2 years old.

His death has left his mother grieving while also searching for answers about what happened inside the daycare that morning.

The regulatory findings provide an official record of violations identified after the incident, but they cannot undo the loss suffered by Saunti’s family.

For a mother who expected to pick up her little boy at the end of the day, the phone call became a heartbreaking turning point.

Now Cooke is left with questions about the supervision, food preparation, emergency response and communication surrounding her son’s final hours.

And behind every question is the same devastating reality: a 2-year-old child who should have simply been spending another day at daycare never made it home. 💔🕊️