Arkansas daycare worker, Daydreana Fowler, was charged with assault after she was caught shoving a four-year-old girl to the ground multiple times on camera.
In February, Fowler was reportedly charged with the third-degree misdemeanor after the child’s mother, Angela Artis, requested surveillance footage of her daughter’s day from KidSPOT Learning Center at 1801 Grant Ave in Jonesboro.
In the video obtained by KAIT, the daycare employee was seen pushing the little girl at least three times. She was shoved so hard during the first push that she flew backward and landed on her side. A Jonesboro Police Department report indicated that Fowler also “jerks her up by one arm off the ground and drags her down to the office afterward.”
Fowler initially called Artis on Feb. 11 and told her that her kid had “gone crazy,” said the police report. The Arkansas mom told authorities that the KidSPOT worker “told me that my daughter was having a really horrible day. She threw two shoes at two kids, hit them in the head, and threw a chair at her.”
Fowler punished Artis’ child by taking away her snacks and tablet. In addition, she allegedly wrote an incident report saying the four-year-old “kept charging at me, and I don’t remember pushing her at all or touching her I was trying to keep her from hitting.”
“That was an alarm for me to go to the school to see what’s going on [so] that’s what I did,” Artis said.
After arriving, she sat down and watched her daughter before deciding to take her for a drive. During the ride, she made a fuss, and eventually, Artis requested to see a surveillance video to assess her child’s behavior herself. When she saw the disturbing footage, she demanded that the little girl be removed from the classroom immediately.
She also reached out to multiple people for help, including several city leaders. So far, only the Department of Human Services has responded.
“There is an investigation in response to this incident on the facility licensing side, but that..has not yet been completed. I don’t have additional information on that at this time,” a representative for DHS told NBC News.
However, KidSPOT representatives released a recent statement saying they fired Fowler.
“Upon learning of the allegations surrounding an incident that occurred on Feb. 11, 2022, KidSPOT immediately contacted the Child Abuse Hotline. KidSPOT was informed that the incident was not a reportable event. Nevertheless, based upon our own investigation, KidSPOT terminated the subject employee.”
Artis said her daughter has been having trouble trusting and communicating with her new teacher.
Fowler’s first court appearance is scheduled for Apr. 18.
