Who is Jessica Cherry? Virginia daycare owner accused of killing girl, 2, as footage shows abuse of other children
NORFOLK, VIRGINIA: A Virginia daycare operator has been accused of killing a 2-year-old girl she was babysitting in the summer of 2020.
On Tuesday, January 26, Jessica Cherry was charged with second-degree murder for killing 2-year-old Kaylee Thomas, who was found unresponsive at the babysitter’s Norfolk home on August 18, 2020. On August 18, around 3 pm, Kaylee became unresponsive while her parents left her in the daycare of 37-year-old Cherry in her home. Prosecutors say the home, in the 1300 block of Jenifer Street with a big front yard and modern playground equipment, was an unlicensed daycare facility.
Kaylee was transported to Childen’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters where she was pronounced dead. According to the Norfolk Medical Examiner’s Office, Kaylee’s cause and manner of death were initially unclear but cops have now ruled her death as homicide. Cherry was arrested and charged in September 2020 with attempted malicious wounding, felony abuse, neglect of a child and child endangerment.
During a bond hearing in September for the initial charges, prosecutors introduced Ring camera video from the daycare home. The camera was turned towards a television set but one could see the activities of the house on the dark screen. Prosecutors added that the police reviewed hours of video and learned the camera recorded horrific crimes against other children on August 11, a week before Kaylee died. Prosecutors allege that the video shows Cherry covering a child's nose and mouth with a cloth and then leaving him alone in a room. Another scene allegedly shows her slapping a toddler till the child cried.
Prosecutors called her a danger to the community as families reached to her business for child care, without having an idea of what she was up to. Cherry’s attorney told the court the defendant has a ninth-grade education, virtually no criminal history and because of the charges, she has lost custody of her 5-year-old son. After the hearing, Cherry’s family members who attended in a show of support, had no comment after hearing the allegations.
The police then revealed that a 1-year-old boy was found unresponsive in the home on January 16, 2020. He died on January 20, 2020, at a hospital. That case was being investigated as an “undetermined death", and Cherry hadn’t been charged in connection with that incident. In September, Norfolk police directed 10 On Your Side to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the 1-year-old’s cause and manner of death. However, the Tidewater District Administrator Donna Price declined to release information without the child’s name.
Cherry is being held without bond and has pleaded not guilty to the charges against her.