A North Little Rock woman was charged Wednesday with first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor after a toddler fell face-first from the van she drove, police say.
The charge stems from an Aug. 12 incident when Shakambral Hillery, 29, was dropping off children at the ARChild Day Care Center at 5312 W. 10th St.
Hillery worked for a company called "Pettigrew," according to an affidavit filed Wednesday in Little Rock District Court.
Around 10 a.m., ARChild Day Care Center workers told police that Hillery was unloading a toddler from the van she was driving at the daycare and had the back side door open, according to a Little Rock police report.
Corie Wedgeworth, a therapist at the daycare, told police that Hillery closed the side door of the van and started to drive off.
As Hillery was driving, the side door reopened and a child fell out of the van, landing face-first on the pavement, Wedgeworth said in the report.
Wedgeworth, 38, of Little Rock told police that a booster seat fell out behind the child, but he was not buckled to it. When Hillery came to the back of the vehicle, she told Wedgeworth that the child “must have unbuckled himself,” the report states.
Wedgeworth said that Hillery became angry when Wedgeworth wouldn’t let her put the child back in the van and left two more children at the daycare before leaving the scene.
Police said the injured child is between 1 to 2 years old.
The toddler had a large knot on his forehead and was given a CT scan on his head to check for internal injuries, police said.
Hillery was arrested and charged on Wednesday, but was not listed on the Pulaski County jail’s online inmate roster Thursday afternoon.
Read Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for more on this story.