Two unattended toddlers drowned in a backyard pool at the San Jose daycare in the fall of 2023.
The owners of San Jose's Happy Happy Daycare who are charged with the drowning deaths of two 1-year-olds, made their first court appearance on Wednesday, and learned that they faced seven other misdemeanors charges separate from the charges filed in October.
Investigators say a gate was left open that allowed the three toddlers, who were left unsupervised on a patio area, to get into the pool.
San Jose's Happy Happy Daycare received several citations from the state since opening in 2021. One evaluation report made that year said: "the pool area is inaccessible to the children in care."
The Santa Clara County Coroner's Office on Tuesday identified the two children who drowned as 1-year-old girls Payton Cobb and Lilian Hanan.
The state has conducted a total of eight visits to the day care, including inspections since it was licensed in Jan. 2021. The purpose of one visit was to discuss the pool.