Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Colorado Boy, 2, Horrifically Injured After Severe Beating in Care of DRINKING NANNY

Episode Date: December 4, 2023

Giovanni Reichert is rushed to St. Anthony's Hospital after he reportedly becomes unresponsive after a bath. Reichert is in the care of McKinley Slone Hernandez, 25, a regular babysitter and friend of mom Stefanie Reichert. The two families are accustomed to being together as Reichert's other children often camp with Hernandez. Hours after leaving her 2-year-old son with Hernandez, Stefanie Reichert gets a text message from Hernandez telling her she needs to rush to St. Anthony's Hospital. The hospital contacted her as well. Reichert rushes to the hospital to see Giovanni surrounded by 50 doctors. Then the decision is made to airlift Giovanni to a hospital for an emergency operation to treat a bleed on the brain.  The brain swelling ultimately necessitated the removal of part of the skull to reduce pressure. Emergency surgery saves Giovanni Reichert's life. Doctors tell Stephani Reichert that her son has suffered blunt force trauma injuries to his head and body.  As Giovanni fights for his life, Reichert has no answer as to what happened.  McKinley Slone Hernandez hasn't been forthcoming. The only thing Hernandez will say is that she was drinking and he got hurt in her care.McKinley Slone Hernandez was arrested on suspicion of child abuse, and cruelty toward a child,  nearly three months after causing serious injuries to the boy’s head, neck, and arms. She is now officially charged with felony child abuse, Joining Nancy Grace Today:    Stefanie A Reichert- Giovanni's mother  Brian Foley –  Board-certified Criminal Defense Attorney, Former Chief Prosecutor in Harris County, (Houston) Texas; Author: “What Prosecutors Don’t Tell You” (not yet published); Instagram @brianfoleylawpllc/ Youtube – @brianfoleylawyer/ Twitter @brianpllc Dr. Angela Arnold – Psychiatrist, Atlanta, GA; Expert in the Treatment of Pregnant/Postpartum Women; Former Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Obstetrics and Gynecology: Emory University; Former Medical Director of The Psychiatric Ob-Gyn Clinic at Grady Memorial Hospital; Voted “My Buckhead’s Best Psychiatric Practice of 2022” Christopher Byers – Former Police Chief Johns Creek Georgia, 25 years as Police Officer, now Private Investigator and Polygraph Examiner with Lancaster Information Services in Atlanta  Anastasia Germain, Ed.D. -  President of Childcare Professional Services LLC (early Childhood Consulting Services), Founder and Former Operator of a Licensed Childcare Center Dr. Jan Gorniak -  Board-certified Forensic Pathologist, Former Medical Examiner for Clark County (Las Vegas, NV)  Nicole Partin - CrimeOnline.com Investigative Reporter, Twitter: @nicolepartin   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A beautiful little boy in Colorado left horrifically injured after what I believe to be a severe beating while in the care of a loving caregiver who I also believe was drunk. A baby boy, when you see Giovanni, your heart is just going to break. He's perfect. Have you ever seen a little baby and you think, oh, that could be the Gerber baby. That little baby's going to be a baby model. That's Giovanni. Just like a little angel from heaven. And when I think about this child being left in a coma by a nanny, oh yeah, fur is about to fly. I'm Nancy Grace.

This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Crime Stories and on SiriusXM 111. You moms out there and you dads too, but frankly, this is to the moms listening. Because I fully believe, yes, there are a few sprinklings of dads that do this, but it's on us. We work. We take care of home. But most important, we take care of our children. It's on us to make sure they stay in one piece. They're healthy.

They're safe. They're happy. Yes, you know what? I'm so blessed with a wonderful husband that's right there beside me, but in my mind, it's on me. If they live or die, it's on me. Can you imagine what Giovanni's mother has been through? Well, as a matter of fact, you don't have to imagine,

because joining me right now is Giovanni's mother, Stephanie Reichert. The moment I heard about Giovanni in a coma, we all started praying. I want you to speak to other moms and dads out there and tell them what happened. Let's just start at the beginning. How old is Giovanni now? Giovanni is two years, 11 months. He turns three December 15th. When you went about finding a nanny, how did you do it? So actually my kids were in a daycare that they loved prior, before this. I actually ended up moving, so I had to find care closer to my home and my friend somebody that

I've known for quite a few years maybe four or five years offered to watch the boys. Now when you say boys you have three in all. You've got Giovanni two and then you have what a five-year-old and a 12-year-old stepson is that right?, that's right. You have a handful. I have two. And I spent every moment that I'm not at work, chasing them and trying to make their lives better. And I would not have it any other way. So I've actually seen this before, where a mom asks a trusted friend, Hey, do you know anybody? And the friend gives the mom someone and it all goes sideways. It's not the friend's fault.

I'm sure the friend didn't know. Actually, she was the friend that did all this. It was my friend who hurt my son. I thought that you actually got the referral from a friend. But are you telling me that you knew McKinley ahead of time? Yeah, I had known her about four or five years prior to her watching my children. Oh, my star, Stephanie, that makes it so much worse. So this is someone that you know and trusted. Now, tell me, you know, after COVID, a lot of people get to work from home.

Were you working from home or do you have to leave the home to go to work? I leave the home to go to work. What do you do? I was actually just a server at a restaurant. I'd been there for a year prior. It's a Jewish deli. And I just, the hours are only 8 a.m. It's a Jewish deli. And I just, the hours are only 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. But I would go probably

six shifts a week, maybe. Okay, I'm sorry. What time to what time I want to write this down? You can, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. So basically the school hours for your other two boys. Exactly.

Yeah, so you're home by 3.15, 3.30 when other two boys. Exactly. Yes. So you're home by 315, 330 when they get home. Exactly. And so you bring in this, who you believe to be a friend to take care of Giovanni. Stephanie, what happened that day that Giovanni was hurt? So actually, I had received a text message from McKinley asking to have Giovanni overnight free of charge. It wasn't unusual because she would take my kids camping and stuff with her family. So I agreed to it. Around 8 o'clock p.m., we got a phone call from the hospital stating that our son was dropped off with blunt force trauma.

Okay, well, wait, wait, wait. So I've had babysitters stay with me overnight or stay with the children overnight many times when I would have to go out of town. And I did not like having to go away at all. But I trusted them. Question to you. When she asked, could Giovanni stay over, they didn't go camping or did they? They ended up not going. He was dropped off before.

So the first you know that anything is wrong is a call from the hospital, not from her? Yeah, she actually texted me after the hospital called. She didn't call me. And what did she say in the text? That we need to rush to San Anthony's hospital because Giovanni went lifeless after a bath. Okay, right there, right there. Guys, with me is Giovanni, two-year-old Giovanni's mother. Giovanni, horrifically injured after a beating, a beating from a nanny who we now believe was drunk. Two special guests joining us in addition to Giovanni's mother, Stephanie, who is speaking out today for all you moms and dads listening with me, Dr. Jan Gorniak, renowned pathologist, former medical examiner in Clark County.

That's Vegas. And you know, Dr. Gorniak never had a lack of business in Vegas? Dr. Gorniak, a child, and I know this is crazy, but very often I would bathe the twins three times a day. In the morning when they woke up so they would feel fresh. Then after lunch and then before they went to bed. But we used it as a time to read books and play music and all that. But that said, a baby doesn't just go lifeless after a bath. That doesn't happen. No, it does not.

So it's interesting. And Stephanie, my prayers go out to you, too, and to be recovery for Gio. But yes, and it's interesting because I'm not going to say a good number, but quite a few of my child abuse cases that I've worked on, it's in the bathtub. The bathtub comes up and I believe that the perpetrator puts the kid in the bathtub to try to revive them. So it's not like they went unresponsive when they were in the tub. I believe they were already unresponsive and they were just trying to like, you know, want to splash water on them or something. That's really interesting because thinking back and anybody on the panel, we have a lot of awesome guests today to support Stephanie Reichert. And Stephanie, do you call Giovanni Gio? Yes, we do. Now that I'm thinking about what Dr. Gorniak has said,

she's right. I'm thinking about on so many abuse cases and so many of them start or involve the bathtub. And one of the very first cases I can think of along those lines is a name that will forever live in infamy, Louise Woodward, the au pair. Baby Maddie Eapen died after a bath. Take a listen to our cut nine. Louise Woodward is a British teenager when she joins an au pair agency and begins working for physicians Deborah and Sunil Eapen. She is to take care of three-year-old Brendan and eight-month-old Matthew. In her third month on the job, she calls 911 claiming Matthew stopped breathing. At the hospital, doctors realize his injuries were so serious, police are called in. Matthew Eapen has a fractured skull, a subdural hematoma, and an ophthalmologist notices retinal hemorrhages suggesting shaken baby syndrome. Woodward is arrested, charged with assault and battery. When Matthew Weepin dies, charges are upgraded to murder.

Woodward never talks to police, deferring to the au pair agency supervisor. At trial, the jury finds her guilty of second-degree murder, and she is sentenced to life in prison. However, at a post-conviction relief hearing, Judge Zobel reduces the conviction to involuntary manslaughter, and she is sentenced to time served and released. Oh, as I recall, his name is Judge Hillard Zobel, and I'll never forget it, because a jury convicts the au pair, Louise Woodward, of murder too,

and everybody got hung up on the shaken baby syndrome. I don't know how they managed to forget about the fractured skull and the subdural hematoma. But that said, at sentencing, the judge says, yeah, I know they convicted her of murder too, but I'm just going to let her walk free on time served. That actually happened. And we're seeing here that baby Gio has a horrible, horrible blow to the head. And Woodward told the jury, she took the stand, that somehow baby Maddie squirted out, jumped out of her arms after the bath

and cracked his skull on the tile floor. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Back to Gio's mother, Stephanie Reichert. Stephanie, what exactly were Gio's injuries? He had a subdural hematoma. Yes. He had a nine millimeter midline shift in his brain. He had bruising all over his body on his neck, his arms.

He had the bleeding behind his eyes. You said the name, I don't remember the medical terms. Bleeding behind both of his eyes. He had a huge bite mark on his forearm. He had a slap mark on his thigh, a slap mark on his back, and just bruising all over everywhere. Stephanie, it's just so much worse than a blow to the head. Let me go to Christopher Byers, private investigator, former police chief, Johns Creek, now owner of ByersInvestigative.com. Listen, you and I, we're not MDs like Dr. Gorniak, but I know when a baby or person has bruises

on their arms like this, that baby was held by the arms. Slap marks on his back and it's like a bite mark. Look, Stephanie Reichert isn't making this up. These injuries are in doctor's reports. Doctors that don't care. I don't mean they don't care about the patient. They do care about the patient. But they are writing clinically, analytically.

They're not making up a dramatic scenario. Like, if I want to know the truth, I look at what the medical examiner writes because they don't care. They don't care who you are, where you're from, what color you are. They care about your anatomy and what cold, hard science tells them. Same thing with doctors. I don't know why they're that way. They're very, let me just say, antiseptic when they write out these reports, Chris Byers. So when a doctor who doesn't know Stephanie Riker, doesn't know Gio, is not a relative or a family friend, they write down, there's bruises on the neck and the arms. There's a slap mark on the thigh. There's a slap mark on the back.

There's a nine millimeter shift in his brain. He has a blow to the head. There's blood behind both of his eyes. You better believe it's true, Chris Byers. And this is more than just dropping the baby on the tile floor of the bathroom. Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, there is no question whatsoever that this baby was abused. It is just so sad to hear this. And again, my heart and prayers go out to Stephanie and her family and little Gio. But yeah, there is no doubt this is abuse. I am looking at a picture of Gio lying in the hospital.

And I remember I nearly vomited when I saw the twins in the NICU. I saw them right when I gave birth and they took them out of me. But when I saw them again, they had tubes, intravenous, you name it, all over them. They were so premature. And I'm looking at baby Gio. He looks like he's got black eyes. He has a bruise under one eye. He has just been through hell, hell. To Stephanie Riker, Gio's mom, hours later after that information, you find out your son is fighting for his life with blunt force trauma injuries to his head and his body. And tell me, Stephanie, what happens when you see Gio? So when we arrived at the hospital, we weren't allowed to see him at first. He was in scans.

Actually, the chaplain, they said that they were getting the chaplain for us, so we thought he was dead. After about 20 minutes of waiting in the waiting room, we were allowed to go back and see him, and he was unrecognizable. I'll never forget seeing him. He had 50 doctors standing around him. We couldn't even get close to him. We couldn't touch him.

And he was on, I mean, he wasn't breathing when he was dropped off, so it was just awful. Humane. Because we dropped him off at her house. And when we dropped him off there, he was fine. And then when we seen him, he just didn't look the same anymore. He was so beat up. When you say he was so beat up, what did you observe? His eyes were all, this was before surgery, but his eyes were bruised. He had the tube down his throat. He was on a ventilator. I mean, it's so hard to, you know, remember everything because it was awful. Like I'll never

be able to explain the feelings of seeing him like that. I understand that when you went in there, Stephanie, and you saw him and there were 50, literally 50 doctors, you thought, crowded all around him. You actually had to leave the room because it was so overwhelming. It was just so overwhelming. All the machines beeping, everything they were saying. And my boyfriend was standing right by my side. And all I remember him saying was, why does he look like that? My baby, why does he look like that? Joining me right now, Dr. Angela Arnold, who is a renowned psychiatrist

in the Atlanta jurisdiction. You can find her at AngelaArnoldMD.com. Dr. Angie, that moment, there are certain moments in life, like if you asked me, what did you do yesterday? I'd have to reconstruct my day. Like what happened?

It was like a whirlwind. But there are moments in life that are indelibly etched in your mind. You can't get rid of them. I remember as a girl when my dad had his first open heart surgery, they had to airlift him to the University of Alabama heart wing. He was so bad off, even Emory and their renowned, world-renowned heart wing wouldn't take him. They didn't think they could do anything for him. I remember when I walked in and it was this big open area and my dad was there hooked up to all sorts of things. And at a distance, I saw it was him, Angie. At the door, I dropped to my knees and started praying. When I saw the twins hooked up to all of those machines, it was unlike anything I had ever seen before.

There are some moments like what Stephanie's describing. You never forget and you never get over. It was so bad. She had to leave the room. Well, it's a, it's such a trauma. It's a trauma.

And you are completely, you have absolutely no control over what's going on. So, and, and Nancy, I'm sure that every guest that you have listening today can't even imagine, we can't even imagine what that child looked like after he was practically beaten to death. Because let's call it what it was, what it is. He was practically beaten to death by someone who that mother entrusted to his care. This is horrific. And yeah, she will be traumatized by this and she will see visions of this in her head. And I'm not quite sure how she's going to be able to ever trust anyone to be around her children. Gio had to be airlifted to the hospital. He needed an emergency operation.

He had a bleed on the brain, which required part of his skull to be removed. He was intubated, which means they take a big, thick, like a hose and put down your mouth and another tube inside that so you can breathe. He was in a coma and has had multiple life-saving operations since then. And when you say it looked nothing like him, Stephanie, my little nephew, who was like my baby to me because I didn't have children for so long, he was hit by a car. And I was still practicing at the DA's office prosecuting. And I got a call that he was in intensive care, a race to intensive care. And when I saw him, Stephanie, he didn't look anything like he did normally. His head was swollen up like a pumpkin and he had a shunt,

which is another kind of tube going down the top of his skull. I nearly, I felt like I was going to pass out. Didn't look anything like him at all. Just so you know, Stephanie, as encouragement, he went on to get a double major in biology and IT. And now he's a hotshot IT troubleshooter at a big company. So he went on and he had to go through rehab. It was in Scottish Rite Children's Hospital for a long time. But now you would never know anything like that had happened to him. Praise the Lord. So Stephanie Riker with me, Gio's mom. You go in, you see him.

It's so overwhelming. You have to leave. When did it dawn on you? Well, hold on. Dr. Gorniak, what does this mean? A nine millimeter shift in his brain? What is that? Well, she described and also you said the doctor said that he had a subdural hematoma.

So what that means is, well, you have your skull and then you have a layer called the dura mater that overlies your brain. So you have blood that's underneath that, so between the brain and the dura. So the blood has nowhere to go. So it's not like you cut your leg and the blood can bleed out. So what happens in the head is the brain has nowhere to go. So when the, I mean, the brain has nowhere to go. So when the I mean, the blood has nowhere to go. So when the blood is accumulating, it's pushing the brain to one side. So it was almost a centimeter push to one side. So there's pressure on the brain. And for people that don't know, what is a centimeter? One centimeter is how much in an inch i don't know i i know you have to

do that so i think it's two two and a half centimeters equals an inch right so it's less than an inch less than half an inch correct um but when you're talking about movement of your brain right the blood is taking up space in the skull and the brain has nowhere to go. And when the brain moves and it starts touching the skull, that means the brain is going to start swelling. Absolutely. And it has nowhere to go. I learned all this because in my nephew's case, cut a hole in his skull to relieve pressure so the brain would have somewhere to go. Is that why they removed part of Gio's skull, Dr. Gorniak? Absolutely, because of the swelling. So not only just because of the blood, but because of the

injury. There's more injury to the brain and it swells. And you're absolutely correct. It has nowhere to go. So if it keeps pushing against the skull, I mean, at some point it's going to cause a cardiorespiratory arrest. So they remove part of the skull just to give it some room to expand. But just because your brain swells does not mean you're going to have permanent brain damage. No, it does not. Because the swelling can can go back down. Correct. And by these procedures, Stephanie Rikers telling us about removing part of the skull. Did he have a shunt in his skull, Stephanie? So that was the last surgery that we just had two days ago. They placed a shunt because he was having issues with the fluid around his head. It was

collecting in the pocket and in his frontal lobe. Yes. And that's another procedure they can do to, you know, you don't want that. It's called cerebral spinal fluid. You don't want that fluid to collect because once again, there's not enough space, especially in a little skull and a little head, for anything to collect. So you want to remove some of that so the brain can heal. Yeah, and he had a lumbar drain, which is a drain that was in his spine for a week. And it just wasn't – when they took it out, they knew that he would have issues with the fluid. So they went ahead and put the shunt in thank goodness i know it sounds terrible that somebody drilled a hole in your child's skull it's not it's wonderful it saved my nephew's life because you're the

pressure of all that swelling has somewhere to go think of a pot on the stove and you won't take the lid off. And finally, the steam is so powerful, it blows it off like that. By taking the lid off, by doing this shunt, it relieves that pressure. Stephanie, where is Gio right now? He's in the living room here with us. I'm in a different room because he's pretty loud. That makes me want to cry that he actually is home. You know, Brian Foley joining us, board certified criminal defense attorney, former chief prosecutor, Harris County, Texas, author of What Prosecutors Don't Tell You. And you can find him at

brianfoleylaw.com. Brian, I tell you what, I would get a hold of this nanny and I would not let go of her until I had cheered out a piece of her rear end and spit it on the council table. I'm telling you, this woman needs to be prosecuted for attempted murder. Yeah. And as a prosecutor, if you're in Colorado, you can get hamstrung a little bit because it sounds like they've only charged him with a class three felony for causing, you know, a serious injury. And that's only four to 16 years in prison. Whereas if it's an attempted murder, then that's a significantly higher punishment range in Colorado. So it's going to be on the prosecutors for sure to do the investigation and make sure that they have evidence that can help hold her feet to the fire. Because the pictures that we saw are tragic. I agree when Stephanie talked about it didn't look like the same child, you know, the before the night before and then afterwards. Yeah. Are you looking at the picture of him sitting on the sofa holding a a tan colored stuffy like a teddy bear?

Right. Because completely different. I would not have even thought it was the same person, Brian Foley. And what's going to help prosecutors, I think, in this case to prove that this is obviously no accident is that bite mark. A bite mark is an intentional act. There's no accidental bite marks left on a child, especially when you consider they also have black eyes and subdural hematoma. This is a brutal attack, which is definitely going to need to be prosecuted to a large extent. Got a question. Stephanie Reichert is with me, Giovanni's mother. To this day, right now, as we're speaking, McKinley Sloan Hernandez has not revealed, won't say what really happened. Yes, that is correct. All she admitted to is that she was drinking and he whipped her in her chair.

That's all she'll say? Yep. She won't say anything. Even after being arrested, she won't say anything. You know, I'm trying to figure out why this has happened, how drunk she was. But frankly speaking, Dr. Angela Arnold, being drunk, why would that make you beat up a baby to the point that the baby's in a coma? Right. And you know, Nancy, that's not even an excuse.

This is such a horrific act of rage and violence to a helpless child. I don't care. And if she was that drunk, then why wasn't she passed out on a couch somewhere? But she wasn't drunk enough, if there's any truth to that, to not know what she was doing. Yeah, because she actually, did she drive Giovanni to the ER, Stephanie? Yes, we actually heard from the hospital that she drove him to the hospital while her boyfriend was trying to revive him. And are you telling me, Stephanie, that at one point we know Giovanni was not breathing?

Yeah, he wasn't. When he was dropped off at the hospital, he was unresponsive and his heart rate was in a 50. So almost cardiac arrest. Joining me right now is Anastasia Germain, president of Child Care Professional Services, LLC, founder and former operator of a child care center. And you can find her at childcareps.com. Anastasia, thank you for being with us. What is your number one piece of advice to families searching for a babysitter or a nanny? To ask a lot of questions and do as much research as you possibly can. A good place for parents to start is at childcare.gov. And there is a link there for each state where parents can go use a pull down menu and find a plethora of resources for all types of child care options.

Parents should be doing their best to look, listen, and ask questions. Look around the facility for safety and cleanliness. A lot of parents choose family and friends for their first child care options. Still look, listen, and ask questions. Look for simple baby proofing electrical outlets are all of the things within the home the toys the playground areas are they in good repair are there emergency procedures in place even if it's a family home care is art do they have procedures in place? Is the caregiver CPR trained?

Do they have, do they provide well-balanced meals, snacks? What is their discipline policy? Does it agree with yours? Is there a stimulating environment and a routine in place, all types of things that you can look for and ask questions about. Also, in the case of home care specifically, you know, in licensed child care centers or licensed facilities, any guests coming into the house have to sign in and out. That's not the case in home care, especially in an unlicensed facility or a friends and

family or a nannying type situation. So you want to talk to the caregiver about guests and the flow of traffic coming and going. Yeah, I want to know who's coming in and out of the daycare. And again, there's nothing at all wrong with a friend or family as your daycare. I was raised all day by my grandmother and my nephews were raised by a family friend instead of going to a state-run daycare. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. To Nicole Parton joining me, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. This woman, McKinley Sloan Hernandez, it's my understanding that she had an unlicensed child care facility at her home.

That's right, she did. And she actually listed herself on several resource pages online. One that I saw was on the Lakewood County Child Care Connection, where moms could go online and look for a nanny, look for daycare. And she had an ad there, there's a few openings left for childcare. You can trust your child here, loving environment, safe home. So other people were paying her and trusting her to care for their child as well. Childcare is a $60 billion industry in the United States. And she was trying to get her fair share, I suppose,

but without providing the service. And when I say unlicensed child care facility, I'm not saying it like it's a dirty word, because trust me, my grandmother, my mama, Lucy, who I named my daughter after, she wasn't a licensed child care facility. She's my grandmother. And she took care of us and fed us. And we play outdoors. It was a farm. And it was a wonderful childhood. So having a family friend or family relative with your child while you're at work, that happens all over the world. And that is what Stephanie Riker did.

Stephanie, I mean, in your mind, McKinley Sloan Hernandez was running a home care for children, right? Yeah. So she watched my kids for a year. When she first started watching them, it was just their babysitter. She wasn't watching any other kids at that time. And then just recently, she started, well, not recently now, but she had posted on all those pages on Facebook saying she was an in-home daycare. And then she started watching other kids and she would have quite a few kids over at her house. What do you mean by quite a few kids? I mean, one time we went there, we decided not to drop Gio off because she had 10 other kids there and she was the only

one. And they were probably half of them were under the age of two. That's too many for one person to be handling. So Stephanie, have you ever confronted her and said, what happened? No, actually, after she had texted me to go to the hospital, that's the last I ever heard from her. She never once checked on him to see how he was doing, to see how we were doing. She just, she blocked me on social media, actually. And that was the last I heard from her. What are prosecutors telling you, Stephanie? I don't even know how to answer that question. We have court, again, we have the first court dates on the 20th of December. But basically what they're saying from what they had, their evidence they have, which we haven't seen yet um she is the abuser now let me ask you is there a surveillance video or a door camera ring

or anything like that in the area in the home where giovanni was at the time he was beaten so badly um maybe that is something that i would not like to speak on. So maybe, maybe. Yes. Okay. I'll just leave it at that. Did she have a boyfriend, McKinley Sloan Hernandez? Did she have a boyfriend? She did. It is his house, actually. He owns the house, and she lives there with him. Was he home when Giovanni was beaten? I don't know for sure. As far as we know, they're leaning towards that he has nothing to do with it. Now they have issued a warrant for his whole ring door bell camera. And I'm sure we'll find out more after we're able to see those videos. See the evidence.

Yes. Yes. So Brian Foley, what I would be doing right now, if I was the prosecutor, I'd get that boyfriend and squeeze him like an orange. I agree. To find out what, if anything, he knows. And remember, this is just boyfriend, girlfriend. There's no marital privilege invoked here. So she can't say, oh, he can't testify against me because we're married.

He can testify to every single thing she has said or done since this incident. He actually did. He has an attorney and he's been pretty cooperative with everything they've asked. And he's provided stuff, evidence. Question, Stephanie Riker, Giovanni's mom. Is the boyfriend still with McKinley Sloan Hernandez? Are they still a couple? Actually, no.

He moved out of the house the day this all happened, and he moved in with his mother. Dr. Angie Arnold, say no more. That tells me everything I need to know. He's going to testify against her. I'm telling you right now. And he better. He better. Because if she has any history, if any other child in her care has come home with bruises or lethargy, he's in it.

Because if he had any idea this was happening and it's his home, basically the daycare is happening in his home, he's on the hook. He better cough up pronto. Nancy, how can you beat a child? How can someone be beating a child in one room and someone's in another room and can't hear what's going on? So that's a great question. Stephanie Reichert, did the boyfriend have a job? Yes, he actually did work. He's an electrician or he's an electrician in training and he goes to night school as well. Wow. So I know for sure he does those things. You know, Chris Byers, if these two were married, the state would have a problem.

But since they are just dating, he can testify to everything he knows. Absolutely. He is going to definitely be the state's key witness because, gosh, it's so frustrating on investigations like this when, you know, you've got a victim that can't tell you what happened. So, yes, he is going to be a huge key witness in this. To Stephanie Reichert, number one, do not let anybody talk you into a cheap plea. Don't let her off with a five-year sentence. She'll do two years and be out. Oh, no, there's no way we're going to let that happen. Absolutely not. I feel like she should be charged with attempted murder. I do, too, because this isn't, oh, I just dropped him. She almost killed your baby. So what does Giovanni's dad have to say about all this? He's right here. Would you like to talk to him? I would love to. Hello. Hi. Is this Giovanni's dad have to say about all this he's right here would you like to talk to him i would love to hello hi is this giovanni's dad this is thank you for being with us what's your take on

all of this man uh you know it was just something that came from left field you know we didn't expect it ever in a million years you never think that somebody who you're trusting is going to put your child in harm. Like the whole point of him going with her was because we trusted her and we thought that he was safe in our care, that she really cared about him. Can I ask you, Anthony, why? And I'm not saying you shouldn't have at all. But what about her made you trust her? Because other parents trusted her as well. It's not just you. But what about her was so trusting? I wouldn't go so far as saying that what about her was trusting.

I don't want to start. Because me personally, she wasn't exactly like my friend friend. This was Stephanie's friend, which we happened to meet because she happened to be dating one of my friends years ago. And that's kind of how we all met. So, like, I knew of her, but me being the dad, you know, I didn't really associate with her too much. It was her friend. So they were always mostly in communication. That's why the night when this happened, she only texted Stephanie.

She didn't. I never got a text. Neither one of us got a call from her. The hospital actually called my phone when it happened. And what again did the text say, Anthony? So the text that Stephanie got was, you know, you guys need to rush to St. Anthony's because Giovanni went lifeless after the bath. Went lifeless, My rear end. You know, Anthony, you understand Stephanie as a mom is going to be so distraught. You have got to be strong for her and with her and do not let anybody talk you into a cheap plea. Oh, no, absolutely not. This is attempted murder because this wasn't

just dropping him or one below. Your baby, Gio, was beaten, beaten over and over and ended up in a coma because of what she did drunk, according to prosecutors. You know know that night when we got to the hospital because we rushed to the hospital extremely fast when we got there you know both of us were our brains weren't working at the moment and when we first walked in um they finally when we were asking you know we're giovanni's parents they finally said hold, let me get the chaplain for you was the first thing that I was told. Now I'm prior military. So, you know, when they came out and they said, let me get the chaplain. I immediately, first thing that went through my head was my son was dead. Um, then they tried to take us into a little waiting room. And when we went to the waiting room, McKinley and her boyfriend were in that room. So they took us away from there and they they actually kicked us out of there and made us go stand somewhere else in the hospital until they came out.

So when the chaplain finally came out and we were able to talk to her, the first thing I asked was, was my son was alive? And she said, yes, he's alive. You know, I think they were doing imaging at the moment, which is why they brought the chaplain out right away. But it's just a whole chain of events, you know, did not help. Um, so like Stephanie was saying, we finally got to go back to that room and, you know, it was a room no bigger than, you know, maybe 10 by 10 if that and, you know, bed in the middle, he was strapped to it and a zillion doctors around him and stephanie was sitting out she had to walk out she had a little you know barf bag you know hyperventilating and i

just kept asking you know what happened to my son why does he look like this why does he look like this and then uh i just remember the flight for life guy saying you know we're gonna get your son to because they had to flight for life in the children's hospital in aurora they just kept telling me we're gonna get him there we're going to get them there safe. We're going to get them there safe. It was a guy with like, he looked like something out of Top Gun. And then another guy with really long hair and they were awesome. And when we were walking out of the hospital after they were like, we're going to take

him now to children's hospital, as we were walking out, the only thing that she ever said to us as we were walking out, she looked at us both, the both of them are standing outside and she goes, did they tell you anything? And all I responded was their flight for life and in the children's hospital. And that was the end of the conversation. She didn't say anything else after that. And we went to children's and now have not heard from her once. I do know that that night, um, you know, they, the, the, the officers had like taken them into custody and took their phones. And that's when they started asking them a bunch of questions. But I do know that not once were they, did they instruct her to not reach out for anything,

you know? And like, I understand accidents can happen. And in a situation where it was an accident, if it were me, I would be reaching out a thousand times over. I wouldn't have left. I would have been by the side, you know, the entire time. The fact that she dropped him and then just left, you know, I just don't see how anyone could even believe that she didn't have anything. You know what I'm saying? Let me understand something, Anthony. With me is Giovanni's dad, Anthony DiStefano. Anthony, did you say she dropped him?

Do you believe she dropped him? Because if she dropped him, how did he get all those slap marks and a bite? I meant dropped him off at the hospital. I'm sorry. Got it. Have you heard from her boyfriend? No, but so again, I guess there's a bunch of evidence that we, as the parents, have not seen because it's been this long going on investigation.

When we did talk to the detective, he did mention that the boyfriend, his name is Dan, was really curious about how Giovanni was. And at that time, the last time we talked to the detective, we said it was okay that they gave him our contact information if he wanted to reach out but again haven't heard from either one of them but we do know those two have split up right correct that's for our understanding the last thing you want to do is have a lifelong commitment with somebody that gets drunk and beats a child no i mean you know a lot of people get drunk and they pass out or they think they're funny and they tell jokes or they get sad they start crying or they drive and have a wreck but to get drunk and then beat a child this isn't just dropping a child guys or he wouldn't have bite marks slap marks all that i

mean dr gorniak this is not a simple fall based on what the medical doctors put in his record absolutely not absolutely not um and it's just interesting i was at a i attended a presentation and was just talking about simple falls in children so a simple fall would not cause that much damage i'm always amazed dr g Dr. Gorniak, when somebody says, oh, the baby fell out of the stroller and died. That does not happen. Right. So a simple fall, if she was holding him, like you were talking about the other case, they flipped out of the bathtub. I mean, just look at, think of the playgrounds at parks.

You know what I mean? I know how many times I fell off the swing set or the jungle gym. Yes, you didn't die exactly so with all the injury it's not as simple it's not a simple fall i mean these sound like injuries he would have sustained in a car crash like your nephew anthony question to you what is the prognosis what is giovanni's future has he had brain damage? Number one. So what we were told, luckily we were able to see a couple of the images from the last time we were in the hospital. And they said that he didn't have any or didn't show any type of brain damage. Praise the Lord. When they let us out, he had to leave. He had to wear a helmet all the time because he was missing the bone flap. Right. So if you didn't know Giovanni and other than the helmet,

you'd look at him and it seemed like, you know, nothing happened to him. You would believe that there was nothing wrong with him at all. Nothing happened. He talks, he actually talks a little bit more than what before this incident happened. You know, there's, there's slight differences, like the irritability, it's very difficult to divert him now, uh, when he gets upset, you know, um, but, and he's not as like, he was always such a sweet, loving boy and he still is, but it's, it's only with me and his mother and like nobody and his brothers, obviously, but nobody else.

It's just, you know, he can't be away from us for more than two minutes. That's why this has been difficult. We're passing the phone back and forth. You know, one of us has to be with them all the time because he just I don't know. To be honest with you, he's just not exactly the same, but he's still a happy little boy. What is your message to parents looking for a babysitter? You know, I understand it's been brought up many times. There's many resources and stuff for this.

In this situation, at the time, money is tight for us. We don't make a ton of money. It was very difficult to afford like a legit place. And when somebody that we trusted and believe was our friend offered to do that for us for a much better, more affordable price. And, you know, of course we were like, yo, that's awesome. You know, we thought she was looking out for us and our kids um now my message is like so i believe that there's been things going on for a while that we as parents were oblivious to because again we have a bunch of boys so they jump on the trampoline they play they're rough they come back with bruises and bumps all the time similar incidents have occurred before oh yeah yeah yeah you, I just, I never thought that she was doing anything. But like, now I realized there's there was times where G mention anything that you think is far-fetched

whether it's your babysitter family member anything of them hurting them always look into it because I feel like if I had looked into it sooner I could I felt like I could have prevented this kind of please do not torture yourself I have crime victims forever. I even do it myself as a crime victim, torture myself about what could I have done differently to save my fiancé, to just do it all the time, and you did everything right. And very quickly, Anastasia Germain, President of Child Care Professional Services, what was the website you just gave us again? Yeah, so if you go to childcare.gov, no matter what state you're in, there's a pull down menu where you can find your state and find the resources. In Colorado, it's the Colorado

Department of Early Childhood. And specifically, their quality initiative is Colorado Shines. And what's interesting and helpful for parents on that site is not only do they include all of the resources, but they also include a list of child care sites, illegal child care sites that were sent a cease and desist letter. So parents can go on there and look. As we go into the Christmas season, our prayers with little Giovanni Reichert, with his mother and his father, for healing and peace, and also for justice.

May it rain down like lightning. Goodbye, friend.