Photo: DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office
A daycare owner in Georgia has been charged with murder after a 4-month-old died while in her care.
On Wednesday afternoon, Dunwoody police were dispatched to Little Lovey daycare after receiving a call reporting an unresponsive child. Officers “arrived within minutes” and began resuscitation efforts on the four-month-old infant, according toa police news release. Paramedics then rushed the child to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Two days later, the daycare owner, Amanda Harris Hickey, 45, was arrested and charged with felony murder and cruelty to children.
According to her arrest warrant, Hickey was watching eight or nine other children at the time of the infant’s death, theAtlanta Journal-Constitutionreports. She allegedly told investigators she put the infant down for a nap on his back in a “Pack N' Play” at around 1:45 p.m. She allegedly told investigator she didn’t check on him again until 3:45 p.m., and said he must have rolled over onto his stomach, the warrant reportedly states.
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“He does crawl a bit but stopped around 1:45,” an officer wrote in the warrant, according to theJournal-Constitution.
According to state records, Hickey’s is licensed to look after a maximum of six children at a time. The video allegedly captured “other actions which are under investigation,” the paper reports.
Police have not revealed any additional information in the infant’s death. Police have not spoken about his cause of death or his identity.
Hickey’s attorney, Tracy Reeves, tells PEOPLE his client plans to plead not guilty to the charges but declined to comment any further. Hickey remains behind bars without bond.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
source: people.com
