Baby-Sitter Charged in Death of Infant : Arraignment: PTA president pleads not guilty. Baby was the second to die in her care.

A 32-year-old Reseda mother and PTA president who cared for children in her home without a license was charged Friday with murdering an infant who suffered fatal head injuries while in her custody, authorities said.

Debra Cummings, who has a 6-year-old daughter and is president of the Shirley Avenue Elementary School Parent Teachers Assn., pleaded not guilty Friday in Van Nuys Municipal Court to charges that she murdered Kevin Young, a 9-month-old infant who was in her care almost daily for six months. Cummings was held without bail.

The baby died June 16 at Northridge Medical Center of a fractured skull.

Police are also examining records of the death of a 14-month-old boy in Cummings’ care last March. Police had found no evidence of foul play.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Leonard Shaffer said a coroner’s report showed that Kevin Young’s injuries were “not consistent” with Cummings’ explanation that the child fell while she was in another room. Shaffer said the coroner concluded that the baby appeared to have suffered a blow from hands or fists.

Detective Larry Dolley also said that Cummings, who was not licensed to provide child care, gave conflicting accounts of the events surrounding the child’s death. He declined to elaborate.

State law requires those providing day care for more than one unrelated child to obtain a license from the state Department of Social Services.

Cummings’ attorney, Joe Ingber, said she was in the kitchen warming a bottle of milk when she heard a thud in the living room, where Kevin Young was playing with another child. She found him on the floor, crying hysterically, and the other child said, “Baby fall, baby cry,” Ingber said.

Ingber said Cummings--who had been providing day-time child care for two children for about a year and a half to supplement her husband’s income--believes the baby fell and hit the back of his head on a coffee table.

Friends and relatives described Cummings as a creative, nurturing mother, dedicated to children, who has been devastated by the death of a child she considered almost one of her own.

“Anyone who knows Debby knows that this is insanity,” said her husband of eight years, Michael Cummings. “She loves kids.”

Kathy Clebanoff, who worked closely with Cummings in the PTA last year, said that Cummings was a hard worker who poured many hours into the school and also took excellent care of her charges.

“I left my children in her care many times, and they love going to Debby’s house,” Clebanoff said. “They paint, or they always come home with some kind of arts or crafts. Or she will bake cookies and let them decorate them.”

Kevin Young’s parents could not be reached for comment.

His death followed the March death of 14-month-old Matthew Cooley of Reseda, who lost consciousness while at the park with Cummings, Shaffer said. Cooley’s doctor ruled the cause of death a seizure resulting from an organic medical problem, Shaffer said. The child had suffered seizures twice before while in Cummings’ care.

Police said they have no evidence of foul play in the boy’s death, but they are now examining the child’s medical records.

“In the course of our investigation we were looking into the baby-sitter’s background and heard about this earlier death,” Lt. William Gaida said. “We have just begun to look into it.”

Times staff writers Michael Connelly and Phillip Gollner also contributed to this story.