Pair Sentenced for Not Having Day-Care Permit

A mother and daughter pleaded no contest Thursday in South Bay Municipal Court to a charge that they did not have a license to operate a day-care center at their Lomita home, where a 16-month-old girl died last year.

Immediately after the plea, Judge Gary Daigh sentenced Linda Zieger, 48, to 20 days in County Jail, three years’ probation and a $1,000 fine. Zieger’s daughter, Laura, 20, was placed on three years’ probation and fined $500.

“I think it’s horrible,” said Josie Heasley, whose daughter, Michele, died at the Ziegers. “These people should have been prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Considering Suing

Heasley and her husband, John, said they are still considering suing the Ziegers for negligence.

Thursday’s sentencing brought to a quiet close a criminal case that began nearly a year ago with a week of sensational revelations.

Sheriff’s deputies reported on Nov. 14 that Michele Heasley had died at the Ziegers’ home on West 262nd Street. A day later, a coroner’s autopsy found that the girl had been strangled to death and sexually assaulted. Sheriff’s investigators said someone had wrapped a cord at least twice around the child’s neck. Linda Zieger, her husband, Robert, and their daughter, Laura, were charged with felony child endangerment.

A week after the death, sheriff’s officials said medical examinations uncovered evidence of sexual molestation of two other infants cared for at the home. There was no evidence to suggest who had molested the children or where the molestations occurred, the Sheriff’s Department said.

Case Fell Apart

From that point, the case began to fall apart.

A supplementary autopsy report concluded that the initial finding of molestation was incorrect.

In May, the felony child endangerment charges against the Ziegers were dismissed after a preliminary hearing before South Bay Municipal Judge Thomas P. Allen Jr. The judge ruled that the Ziegers were not criminally negligent and that the girl’s death appeared to be the result of inattention or poor judgment.

Allen also dismissed misdemeanor licensing charges against Robert Zieger, saying he had not operated the day care center.

That left only misdemeanor licensing charges against Linda and Laura Zieger. That charge carries a maximum six-month jail sentence, in contrast to the six years in state prison that can follow a felony conviction on similar charges.

Sheriff’s investigators said they were unable to determine who wrapped the cord around Michele Heasley’s neck. The Sheriff’s Department never established any connection between the Ziegers and the other two children who allegedly were molested. That portion of the investigation was disbanded.

After Thursday’s pleas, Deputy Dist. Atty. Rod Leonard said he no longer believes that the girl was murdered. He theorized that she strangled accidentally after becoming entangled in a harness that the Ziegers allegedly used to restrain children.