Update: The scheduled hearing has been pushed back after a judge granted a continuance.

Previous story: The woman accused of running an unlicensed daycare in Carmel will be in Hamilton County Civil Court Wednesday.

A representative from the Attorney General’s office will likely seek a permanent injunction and possible financial penalties against Stacey Cox.

Cox and her daughter, Kristen Phillips, are accused of operating a daycare without a license even after warnings from the State. It’s against the law in Indiana to care for five or more children without a daycare license.

On January 24, while Cox and Phillips were working, 5-month-old Conor Tilson was found not breathing in a broken crib. The infant was pronounced dead a short time later.

According to court documents, Cox and Phillips both tested positive for marijuana that same day.

Ten days later, on a follow up visit, investigators found Cox was continuing to run her daycare with more than five children in her care and without a license. The state shut down the daycare under a cease and desist order.

Cox could face up to $100 in penalties for each day she ran the daycare illegally. She is expected to appear in court at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday.

CARMEL – A Fox59 investigation has learned that the daycare where a 5-month-old baby died in January had been operating illegally for several months.

The Hamilton County Coroner tells Fox59 that Conor Tilson died of probable Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) on Jan. 24. The child was found not breathing and unresponsive in a broken, portable crib. That same day, the daycare’s operators tested positive for marijuana.

Fox59 has learned the Stacey Cox Child Care Center received several warnings from state investigators that it was illegal to care for more than five children without a state license. Those warnings were ignored as the facility apparently continued to break the rules for at least three months.

Stacey Cox and her daughter Kristen Phillips ran the facility.

The Family and Social Services Administration started investigating in September after receiving complaints about a baby who came home with several bite marks. State investigators found unsafe conditions and more than five children being cared for. That is illegal for an unlicensed daycare.

After multiple inspections showed more than five children in the home, the FSSA issued a cease-and-desist notice to the daycare on Oct. 24.

A follow-up visit that same day found only five children in the house, so the daycare was allowed to continue operating as an unlicensed facility. That also meant Stacey Cox Child Care Center was outside state authority.

One mother who recently pulled her son out of the daycare told Fox59 Cox lied to her, saying the daycare was licensed.

“I’m thinking my son’s going to this fantastic daycare,” said Lindsay Luke. “She cares so much about the kids. I’m never worried about how many the ratio is because she’s licensed.”

For three months, Stacey Cox Child Care Center continued to operate without a license. Its website advertised room for more children in the home.

On Jan. 24, investigators responded to Conor Tilson’s death. On that day, a test revealed that Cox and Phillips were under the influence of marijuana. During two subsequent visits by an FSSA investigator in February, nobody answered the door at the home.

On Feb. 4, Carmel police sent an undercover officer posing as a mother who wanted to enroll her child. The officer said she observed unsafe conditions in the house. She also saw at least six children being cared for. The officer’s report to the state said she was told there was still room for her child to be enrolled.

Last Thursday, the state ordered an emergency closure of the daycare. The next day, the daycare’s website was still up and advertising room for three more children.

The Indiana Attorney General’s office is now on the case, working on behalf of the FSSA.

Cox will appear in Hamilton County Circuit Court on Wednesday.

A cease and desist notice now greets anyone who visits the Stacy Cox Daycare in Carmel.  However, just three weeks ago, Stacy Cox, who ran the daycare out of her home, was working with her daughter Kirsten Phillips, when a 5-month-old boy died while in their care.

“It sickens me,” said daycare customer Lindsay Duke. “Completely sickens me.”

Duke’s nearly 2-year-old son, Brysen, was at the daycare the day the boy died. In fact, she received a photo from Cox that morning, showing her son and the other children. Phillips is in the middle holding the boy who later died.

Duke said she never received a message or call about the death.

“I never got contacted to come pick [my son] up,” said Duke. “If there wasn’t a parent that ran outside and told me, I wouldn’t have known what happened for probably another five days, is when she finally contacted me.”

Duke said when Cox contacted her, she told her the baby “sort of died of SIDS…sort of.”

According to court documents, Phillips told a Department of Child Services investigator that “the infant had been found on his stomach.  She placed him in the crib for his nap, on his back, and to her knowledge, he was not yet capable of rolling himself over.”

The baby was sleeping in a collapsible crib, which investigators found to be broken.

However, that is not all. Investigators found “Cox and Phillips who were supposed to be watching the infant… were under the influence of marijuana.”

Duke said she is not surprised.

“She just had the look like she was under the influence,” said Duke. “You know, her eyes were really heavy, and it was always, ‘I’m so tired. I’m just so tired.’”

Duke said she now questions everything, including apparent bites her son suffered months ago.

“He’s had a bite mark on his chest, where there is no skin, and then he’s had bit marks on his back,” said Duke.

Duke wasn’t the only parent who grew concerned about biting.  State investigators began‪ looking into the daycare in September after a similar report of an 8-month-old baby with bite marks on her face and neck.

‪Then, the state returned to the home multiple times in October, warning Cox she needed to get a license because she cared for too many children.

Though cox never obtained a license, Duke said Cox told her and other parents that she was licensed.

“Everything on that article was a lie of what she’s told me,” said Duke.

Since the death, the Carmel Police Department sent in an undercover officer, who‪ saw two children unattended in high chairs, bleach next to the refrigerator and two space heaters, one of which was covered in a metal cage close to the couch.

An agent with the Bureau of Child Care paid a visit to make sure the daycare was finally following the rules and closed.  However, Duke still can’t help but wonder how much harm was done.

“I don’t know how long my son had to witness it,” said Duke. “I don’t know how… I mean, then you start to think so many other things like, were these bite marks caused from something else… and you don’t know. You don’t know.”

Cox and Phillips will have a civil hearing this week.  Meanwhile, Carmel police continue to investigate possible criminal charges.