CHESTERFIELD, VA (WSLS)-The Chesterfield daycare owner who was sentenced to eight months in jail after a child in her care died in a fire has dropped her appeal.
Nearly two weeks ago Laurie Underwood was sentenced to 12 months in jail with four months suspended for her misdemeanor charge of operating a home daycare without a license.
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The charge stems from an October incident when underwood accidentally left 13-month-old Joseph Allen inside her burning home.
Fire officials say the fire started when underwood put fire pit ashes in a bag in her garage.
She was caring for eight children at the time and had no batteries in her home's smoke detectors.
As WSLS has reported, Virginia legislators passed new regulations for daycare's in recent weeks.
The new regulations will lower the number of children an unlicensed day care can have from six to five, which will require more daycares to get a license.
Lynchburg Commonwealth Attorney Mike Doucette who recently prosecuted a case against an unlicensed "at home" day care owner says it's a step in the right direction.
"The licensing requires some safety training, which is a good thing. The safety training requires fire extinguishers which is a good thing. It also has provisions that has unannounced visits from social services to make sure everything is going alright," Doucette said.
Unlicensed daycares will also have to provide a written notice to parents stating they are unlicensed and that they don't operate from the same safety standards.