The employee was fired as a result of the incident, which was caught on surveillance video
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/daycare-worker-throwing-show-at-special-needs-child-020626-80ec0be77b154c8eade7c82518afdb58.jpg "Horrifying Video Shows Daycare Employee Throwing Shoe at the Face of 5-Year-Old Child with Special Needs")
KTLA 5/YouTube
NEED TO KNOW
- A daycare worker was seen on camera throwing a shoe at a 5-year-old child with special needs
- The employee was fired as were two other employees who were in the room at the time
- The child’s family says they want charges filed in response to the video
A Los Angeles daycare worker was fired after she was caught on camera throwing a shoe at a 5-year-old girl with special needs.
The video, which was reported by KTLA, KNBC and Fox 11, shows a daycare worker at Destiny Development Center in Inglewood hurling a shoe across the room and striking the child.
Two other staff members were also in the room at the time and one appeared to be laughing.
The incident occurred on Jan. 16 and the three daycare workers seen in the video have since been fired, per KTLA and Fox 11.
In the reported video, the aide who threw the shoe can be heard saying, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do it," after seeing that the shoe hit the child.
The daycare's director, Danielle Williams, told NBC that the aide had been trying to scare the child, not hit her.
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“The teacher did say she threw the shoe, but it was an accident," Williams told the outlet. "[The child's] mom said, 'Why would they be throwing shoes in the school?' I said, 'You're right.' So, as a result, she’s not here."
Fox 11 reported that the child's family wants charges to be filed against the three daycare workers who were present for the incident. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is investigating, according to the outlet.
"People send their children to daycares and to schools, thinking that our children are safe, that they'll be protected, you know, they'll love, they'll treated with kindness," the child's aunt, Kira Townsend, told Fox. "In this video, that did not display that at all."