Families File Wrongful Death Lawsuit against Daycare for San Jose Drownings

On October 2, 2023, at Happy Happy Daycare, three children were playing unattended in the backyard. They allegedly fell into a pool after passing through a propped-open gate. Two toddlers, Lily and Payton Cobb, passed away. A third toddler survived but was hospitalized.

In 2024, prosecutors charged the day care’s co-owners, Nina Fathizadeh and Shahin Gheblehshenas, with felony child endangerment. Both owners are out on bail. Investigators stated there were four children in Happy Happy’s care on the date of the incident, and a fifth child was about to be dropped off. Gheblehshenas had gone to another daycare, leaving the children at Happy Happy under the supervision of Fathizadeh, her then 41-year-old daughter. 

According to prosecutors, Fathizadeh was preparing breakfast, but had left one of the children in a crib and allowed the three others to go into a backyard to play without supervision. That playground stood next to a pool that was closed off by a 5-foot-tall fence. However, Ghebleshenas’s husband had allegedly propped the barrier’s gate open to water plants but had failed to close it again.

Fathizadeh allegedly noticed one of the children floating in the pool when she went to check on the babies after about five minutes. She was performing CPR on that child when her brother spotted the two other children also floating unconscious in the pool. The brother reportedly removed both of the other children from the pool, dialed 911, and attempted CPR.

In August 2025, Scott and Josephine Hanan, the parents of Lily Jade, one of the toddlers who drowned, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Fathizadeh and Gheblehshenas. The lawsuit alleges gross negligence against each of them.

How Do I Win a Wrongful Death Case?

To prevail on a wrongful death claim, the claimants must prove several elements:

• Representation: The deceased person’s estate is represented by an appointee. The appointee is often the deceased’s spouse, parents, or other close family members.
• Duty: The defendant owed a responsibility to the deceased to act or not act in some manner.
• Breach: The defendant failed to act in a certain manner to prevent the death.
• Causation: The death was caused either wholly or in part by the defendant’s neglect or intent to harm. There may be more than one cause for the victim’s death.
• Death: An individual died because of another person’s conduct.

Wrongful death cases for children can be especially strong since everyone sympathizes with a child, and most people will not blame a child for being in a dangerous situation. Instead, the focus will be on the adults to prevent the deaths, especially in a case like this one, where the adults were paid to watch the children.

What Can I Recover from a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?

Family members of the deceased can recover the following damages for a wrongful death claim:

• Loss of income, earnings, and/or benefits;
• Medical expenses and costs for funeral arrangements;
• Loss of companionship and care;
• Pain and suffering caused to the survivors; and
• Punitive damages where the defendants’ conduct was intentional or malicious.

For young children, there is no recovery for loss of income or earnings since they were not working, and it would be impossible to determine how much money they might have made as adults. However, the recovery for loss of companionship and pain and suffering would be significantly greater because everyone should understand that the loss of a young life is a tragedy. No parent should have to outlive their children due to someone else’s carelessness, especially if their child was only a few years old.

Do I Need the Help of a Personal Injury Attorney?

If you have sustained a personal injury through the unlawful act of another, then you should contact a personal injury attorney. A skilled personal injury lawyer near you can review the facts of your case, go over your rights and options, and represent you at hearings and in court.