Grieving Mom of 3-Month-Old Who Died on First Day of Daycare Speaks Out: 'Her Laughter Was More Than Contagious'

"Parents, please kiss your babies for McKenna. Not just today, not just yesterday, every day," McKenna's mother wrote

Photo: Courtesy Felmly Family

A 3-month-old baby girl died on April 1 after attending a childcare facility that authorities have since deemed responsible for “gross incompetence, negligence and misconduct,” according to records obtained by PEOPLE.

When Adrienne Kromer dropped her infant daughter, McKenna Felmy, off for her first day at Sharon’s Day Care in Treichlers, Pennsylvania, she never could have imagined it would be the last time she’d see her baby girl alive.

Toxicologists say it will take weeks to determine the cause of death, but the baby stopped breathing at the center, PEOPLE confirmed. She was then rushed in an ambulance to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead soon after arriving at the emergency room.

The daycare’s proprietors could not be reached for comment.

“Her laughter was more than contagious. What a beautiful memory. Such a shame that memories are all we have left,” Kromer captioned a Facebook video of McKenna on Facebook.

In a post to the family’s GoFundMe page, McKenna’s father, Bryan Felmly, wrote that Kromer dropped their daughter off at the center around 7:45 a.m. on April 1, and the was healthy with “no signs of illness or distress.”

“[Adrienne] called three different times to see how McKenna was doing since this was the first day she had been away from her Mommy longer than like an hour and a half. The daycare said she was doing fine in the morning,” he wrote.

Felmly goes on to say that Kromer called around lunchtime and the daycare told her that McKenna was not taking her bottle.

“Daycare said she took about 1.5 oz but only got the milk out by gnawing on the nipple and that she laid her down shortly after and she fell right asleep which is very unlike her. She always takes a while to fall asleep. Lots of rocking, swaying, cuddling, etc.” he wrote.

Adrienne left work early and was in the car when she received a call from the center.

“Where are you? It’s the baby! It’s the baby! She’s not breathing! Get here as fast as you can,” Felmly claimed the center said in a call to Kromer.

At the hospital, Felmly said “Adrienne screamed. I lost it. About ten minutes later they tell us they couldn’t save her.”

“Adrienne has lost the baby that she’s been waiting for for over 8 years. I’m not sure how we are supposed to go on. There’s no reason why a 3.5 month old healthy baby girl should have lost her life ”

A police spokesperson has confirmed that the daycare center has since been shut down and an investigation into McKenna’s death is underway. The case is not being handled as suspicious at this time, as an autopsy showed no signs of trauma to the child’s body.

In documents obtained by PEOPLE, Sharon’s Day Care LLC was shut down by Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services for violations of seven state child care center regulations in the categories of staff to child ratio, measured child care space, child supervision, infant sleep position and record maintaining.

“Our thoughts are with the family of McKenna Rose Felmly during this extremely difficult time. The Department of Human Services is committed to supporting the delivery of high-quality child care to Pennsylvania families and protecting Pennsylvania’s greatest asset – our children. On April 5, 2016, we issued an emergency removal to Sharon’s Daycare. DHS is working with the families of the children affected due to the emergency removal to find replacement child care facilities. DHS will continue to cooperate with law enforcement throughout the investigation,” Ted Dallas, secretary of the Department of Human Services, said in a statement.

“Parents, please kiss your babies for McKenna. Not just today, not just yesterday, every day. Please help me keep her memory alive forever,” Kromer wrote on social media.