DUNWOODY, Ga. — A Dunwoody day care owner facing felony murder charges in the death of a 4-month-old baby in her care is now also facing several more felony charges of cruelty to children.
Amanda Harris Hickey was charged with murder and child cruelty in the Feb. 3 death of a baby at Little Lovey Daycare, which she operated out of her home. Dunwoody Police who responded to the scene found the infant unresponsive in a playpen. Hickey is facing a murder charge after police say video showed her put the baby down for a nap on his stomach after she told police she put the baby to bed on his back.
Hickey was charged with first degree felony murder and two counts of cruelty to children in the second degree in the infant’s death.
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During a bond hearing Thursday, prosecutors said they filed four more counts of child cruelty against Hickey based on surveillance video captured at the day care the same day.
New warrants obtained by Channel 2 Action News showed that the incidents involved four other children also in Hickey’s care, and that all took place between the hours of 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Warrants said Hickey was watching eight or nine other children during that time period.
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One warrant states that video showed Hickey pick up a 7-month-old baby by one leg and hold him upside-down over a playpen. “The defendant then releases the infant while he was suspended upside down,” the warrant stated. “The infant then falls onto his face and head into the bottom of the Pack and Play.”
Another warrant says Hickey picked up another 10-month old infant by one arm and dropped the child on its head, neck and upper back as the baby screamed.
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A third warrant says Hickey pushed and grabbed a 14-month-old girl “with a fist full of hair” and yanked her back down into her playpen before picking her up by the neck and arm, “causing the infant’s face to turn red.”
A fourth warrant says Hickey picked up a 6-month-old and shook the baby twice before dropping the infant into a bouncer and then covering the child with a blanket. “The infant is left there crying,” the warrant states.
Hickey was denied bond Thursday, but her lawyer said she plans to plead not guilty. The state has shut down the day care pending results of the investigation.
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