Nkiya McLester, a daycare worker, has been arrested after being accused of injuring a two-year-old under her supervision.
According to a surveillance video, McLester followed the little boy into a cubicle with what appeared to be a wooden block. She appeared to swing in the direction of the little boy.
According to a police spokesperson, the worker threw a wooden block at the toddler.
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Fox5 reports that the incident occurred at Leapfrog Early Learning Academy in South Fulton.
Jared Graves, the boy’s father, told the outlet: “My heart broke, my world came crashing down, that’s my son.”
“A gash right here, by his eye, and he also has swollen blood vessels in the corner of his eye,” Graves added. “He was bleeding.”
He alleged that the daycare did not inform him or his wife about the incident.
“I never got a phone call; mom never got a phone call, about anything that happened,” Graves recalled.
He described how, when his wife picked up their son on the day of the incident, the worker told her that the child had hurt himself by falling on a mop bucket.
However, Graves noted they got “an unsettling feeling” because the explanation did not sit right with the couple, so they went to the day care and requested to watch the security footage.
Graves said the day care notified him that the worker had been fired, but he is not satisfied.
“We want to press charges to the fullest extent of the law, and we also want to sue the school as well,” Graves said.
McLester was taken to the Fulton County Jail and charged with second-degree cruelty to children and violence.
The daycare reported that McLester had a clean background check and good references, according to Atlanta News First.
The Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) has initiated an investigation into the event.
The group stated that despite having to pay a $499 fine in 2021 for a child’s football-related injuries, Leapfrog Early Learning Academy is now in excellent standing with the government.
