Mississippi daycare workers won’t face felony charges after viral video
The four daycare workers seen deliberately frightening children in a viral video last October will not face felony charges, the Monroe County (Miss.) Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday, according to WTVA.
A grand jury declined to indict the four women — Sierra McCandless, Oci-Anna Kilburn, Jennifer Newman and Shyenne Shelton — on the three counts of felony child abuse with which each had been charged.
Instead, they will each face misdemeanor charges. A fifth suspect, Traci Hutson, had already been charged with misdemeanor failure to report abuse and simple assault against a minor.
The women, now former employees at Lil’ Blessings Child Care & Learning Center Hamilton, Miss., about 170 miles from Jackson, were seen in video posted on social media, with one of them wearing a mask similar to those seen in the “Scream” film franchise and intentionally frightening the young children, screaming at those one of other workers would single out as having “been bad.”
The video quickly went viral and led to one of the children’s parents appearing on an episode of The Dr. Phil Show.