An Ohio grandmother is demanding that a local day care be closed and a worker caught on video slapping her 1-year-old granddaughter be jailed.
According to a police report obtained by Atlanta Black Star, Vonita Philips’ granddaughter, Avalynn, was “popped her in the mouth” after biting a worker. Day care staff showed the child’s mother footage of the Feb. 2 incident and immediately fired the worker from Crayons Academy. However, Phillips said the center has a culture of abuse, and the accused worker, Dana Collins, should face a harsher penalty.
The grandmother also accused the day care’s owner of downplaying and justifying the assault on Avalynn. Phillips believes her granddaughter’s case is not getting adequate attention because of her race.
“I feel that if the color of our skin was different, it would have been a different outcome,” Phillips told Atlanta Black Star. “I feel like, given the fact that it happened in a white town. It’s a white prosecutor. It’s a white teacher. It’s a white officer, and it’s just my brown grandbaby.”
She also fears that other vulnerable children, who are mostly non-verbal, will continue to fall victim to abuse as long as Crayons Academy still operates. She held protests outside the day care demanding its closure days after the incident.
“Abuse Happens Here,” one of the signs said.
Candyce Allen told West Carrollton police that she received a call from the day care around 1:45 p.m. advising her that her daughter, who turned 2 on March 5, had been slapped. She told police her daughter could not talk as yet and had previously bitten Collins despite not having any issues with any other employers.
Officer Jared Moore escorted her inside the facility where they watched a video of the incident, which did not include audio.
Moore said he saw Collins at a table with three toddlers, including Avalynn, coloring on paper at 9:19 a.m. Avalynn tried to reach into a box of crayons, but Collins grabbed her hands to stop her. The toddler then bit Collins on her wrist before the daycare worker slapped her in the right cheek, mouth area, according to the report.
“It was difficult to gauge the intensity of the strike from the video,” the officer wrote. “After Phillips was struck, she let go of Collins’ hand and stared at her before pointing her finger in her direction. Phillips did not appear to get emotional after the incident.”
