Jersi McKnight: Outrage after 2-month-old drowns at daycare and owner gets away SCOT-FREE
A 2-month-old child died on her first day of daycare in August and now that a grand jury has decided not to indict the daycare owner, the Florida family is seeking justice. The family made its first public statement in which 2-month-old Jersi McKnight's mother, Martasha Robinson, stated, "She had just started smiling and giggling", referring to some photos the family had taken of the baby. Little did her parents know that the photos taken in the summer of 2021 would be her final ones.
”I just assumed she was in good care,” Robinson explained. The family has experienced a tide of emotions over the last four months, and they are still upset. Robinson exclaimed, "Child abuse and neglect," while blaming the daycare. The father, Jonathan McKnight, described the situation as "neglect all day".
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Jersi's mother claims she dropped her off at Hugger Family Daycare, a state-licensed institution inside a Perry house, on August 9, at 8.30am. They say the daycare was recommended to them "by tonnes of people”.
At 3.30pm, Robinson received a panicked phone from the mother of another kid there and her "heart stopped", hearing that something had happened to one of the kids at the daycare center. Robinson added, “I’m getting closer and closer to the scene and there’s an ambulance, and detectives and police lights.”
She didn't know how bad it was until she was welcomed at the door by a cop. Jersi had allegedly been left unattended on a changing table. She fell in a nearby mop bucket somehow and drowned in it, according to state documents. “That alone — leaving her — is just negligence,” Robinson said.
In a 10-8 decision, the Taylor County grand jury decided not to indict the daycare owner on criminal charges, leaving the entire family in shock. ”I’m still in shock. Hoping I heard it wrong. Maybe I just heard it wrong,” Katrina Cook, the baby's aunt, wondered, "That’s just like taking a bucket of water and throwing it out in the yard, and when it’s dried up, it’s over with." Walter Bishop, the baby's great-grandfather, stated, "my grandbaby was way more than a bucket of water."
While the family may never know what occurred, they do know that Jersi was last seen alive inside the daycare. Despite the grand jury ruling, the case is still open, under investigation, and fresh evidence is being considered, according to Perry Police Department.
The daycare was penalized as "non-compliant" on two separate occasions, according to state records, including a violation filed approximately five weeks before Jersi's death. That offense was for having seven children under the age of three, which is more than Florida law allows. “I need some answers. I need some answers,” Robinson stated. According to the family, they have also engaged an attorney to file a civil claim.