SAN ANTONIO, Texas - A family has filed a lawsuit against a San Antonio-area daycare and its parent company after their toddler was "violently struck and shoved" by a worker who was later arrested and charged.
Daycare worker arrested
What we know:
50-year-old Veronica Jimenez was arrested and charged with state-jail felony injury to a child — reckless bodily injury.
The Bexar County Sheriff's Office says it responded to a report of an injured child at KIDUS Daycare in north Bexar County on Jan. 6.
Veronica Jimenez
Surveillance video from inside a classroom showed Jimenez forcefully grabbing a child by the arm, causing him to strike his head on classroom furniture and fall to the floor, says BCSO.
The child had to be medically evaluated for a head injury.
BCSO says the daycare's management fired Jimenez after reviewing the footage and called police. Investigators also determined her initial account was inconsistent with the video.
Family files lawsuit
What they're saying:
The incident has prompted a lawsuit filed on Thursday, Feb. 5, on behalf of the toddler's parents against KIDUS Daycare, its parent company JPR International Inc and Jimenez.
The lawsuit says that while the toddler was playing near a rolling classroom caddy, he interacted with the caddy and it fell over.
Jimenez "reacted with visible anger" and "abruptly rose and charged towards [the toddler]." She then "violently struck and shoved [the boy], launching his small body into a neighboring caddy headfirst," says the lawsuit.
The toddler's head and face hit the metal bars of the candy, causing him to collapse on the floor. The lawsuit says the blow was so severe, the child visibly bled. However, Jimenez did not stop and render aid, instead allegedly grabbing him by his shoulder and yanking him upward.
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Child abuse caught on video at San Antonio daycare
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The lawsuit alleges that KIDUS Daycare immediately denied everything, but management reviewed the internal surveillance days later and realized what actually happened.
""At first the daycare said, you know, your son, he was running, it was nap time, he wouldn't listen, and he was just running around like a crazy kid and he fell and he hit his head," Omar Chawdhary, partner with Kherkher Garcia, LLP.
The boy also later reportedly told his mom, "Ms. Jimenez hurt me."
"She was so concerned that right after she took him to the emergency room, urgent care to get the stitch…get the wound looked at, she immediately went back to the daycare and said, I need to see the cameras," Chawdhary said.
The lawsuit accuses the co-defendants of gross negligence, including failing to adopt, enforce, and maintain reasonable safety measures and operational controls necessary to protect children from injury, including negligent hiring, training, and supervision.
The suit says that the toddler "has experienced and continues to experience physical pain and suffering," "mental anguish including fear, anxiety, emotional distress, and loss of a sense of safety and normalcy," and "physical impairment and loss of normal use of the body."
"Mostly it's gonna be emotional and mental. He is still talking about it. He's out of the daycare. He's scared of daycare, he's scared teachers, but it's a long-lasting emotional trauma," Chawdhary said.
The family is seeking monetary relief between $1 million and $5 million, court costs, and any other damages or interest as allowed by law.
The Source: Information in this report comes from the Bexar County Sheriff's Office, court paperwork and Texas personal injury firms Kherkher Garcia, LLP and Ali Law Group, PLLC.