Release posted on 06-25-25 at 8:27 AM

St. Petersburg Police detectives have arrested Desiree Rentz, for the death of a nine-month-old boy in her care on July 25, 2024.

Rentz is charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child and misrepresentation of a childcare license resulting in death.

On Thursday, July 25, at 1:46 p.m., Officers were called to an apartment for an unresponsive baby who would not wake up from a nap. The nine-month-old boy, Timothy David Smith, was left in the care of Desiree Rentz, at an apartment at 5628 Lynn Lake Dr. S., The Reserve at Lake Pointe Apartments.

On the day of his death, Rentz was running a daycare with more than a dozen children in her one-bedroom apartment.

Through the investigation, detectives learned she misrepresented herself to parents as a licensed daycare operator. The Florida Department of Health and DCF both confirmed that Rentz never had a daycare license. The licenses she displayed on her wall were for temporary foster care with a capacity of one.

The Medical Examiner's Office conducted an autopsy and confirmed that the baby was given cough syrup not recommended for children under age four, without the parents' knowledge or consent.

Rentz was taken into custody with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service.