Finding the perfect child care to fit your family’s needs can be very difficult. Parents worry about cost, location, and quality of care. Our children are our most prized gifts, and we want them to receive love, compassion, and kindness when we aren’t with them. When it comes to child care centers, they aren’t all created equal. Sadly, sometimes parents find that out too late. Zuri Sutton, a mom in Ohio, thought she’d found a solution for her child care needs at Little Miracles Childcare Center in West Toledo. She was gobsmacked when she arrived on January 17, 2026, to pick up her daughter and found the lights off and no adults in sight.
Sutton told WTVG she arrived at Little Miracles to pick up her 6-year-old daughter around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday. She knocked on the door for several minutes while staring into the dark building. Her daughter finally answered the door, and the shock became even worse. Sutton allegedly found her daughter, a toddler, and an infant without anyone caring for them. Sutton called the police for help.
“These are small young children. My daughter she has asthma she could have had an asthma attack, anything could have happened,” Sutton told the news station. “It’s been traumatizing because you think like your child is in good hands while you are at work, but it’s not.”
Investigators found that 23-year-old Tommy Colbert apparently left the center during his shift for an hour to visit a friend.
“It’s like a betrayal, and she doesn’t wanna go back to the daycare center cause it was just terrifying for her as well,” Sutton added.
Little Miracles’ owner, Antoinette Cobbler, told WTOL she didn’t know anything about Colbert’s alleged actions until several hours later.
“Why it happened, I was confused at the end of the day,” Cobbler told the news station. “All our staff members, I never expected this, not even from him.”
Cobbler said Colbert has worked for Little Miracles since its opening two years ago and never caused her any trouble.
“At the end of the day, everybody knows when you work for the state of Ohio, it’s regulations, it’s process and everything,” she said, per WTOL. “You have to be qualified. You have to be certain.”
WTOL found the child care center failed a state inspection the week prior to Colbert’s arrest because of a background check that needed updating.
“I’m moreso disappointed because I get held to a higher standard at the end of the day,” Cobbler said. “But businesses make mistakes; they happen all the time.”
Police arrested Colbert, who faces three charges of child endangerment. He pleaded not guilty, and a judge released him on his own recognizance. Thankfully, the children were all fine. We don’t even want to think about what could have happened.
