Woman arrested, accused of forcing child’s head onto cot at day care, Nassau deputies say

FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. — A woman was arrested after deputies said she “forcefully” restrained a child to a cot during nap time at a day care in Fernandina Beach.

Kelly Fullwood, 26, of St. Marys, Ga., was arrested Thursday on a charge of child abuse without great bodily harm, according to a Nassau County Sheriff’s Office arrest report.

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NCSO responded to Step By Step Learning Center, located at 95734 Amelia Concourse, on Thursday morning, according to the report.

A father told a deputy that he picked his 3-year-old daughter up on Tuesday and said she was wearing a different shirt than they were dropped off in and had a bruised lip.

The father said he received a note that said the child had a fit, hit their face against the edge of the cot, bruised their lip, and “had a lite (sic) bloody nose.”

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The deputy watched surveillance video of the incident, showing Fullwood trying to place the child down for a nap.

Fullwood “used techniques consistent with common practices such as talking to the child, patting her on the back, and placing a blanket over her top half of her body,” the arrest report said.

However, the deputy noted, Fullwood “used other techniques she knew or should have known were not acceptable and could cause harm to the child, such as forcefully restraining the child to the cot with her arms, as well as forcing the child’s head down,” the report said.

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The deputy witnessed Fullwood several times, “forcing the child’s head down into the cot and holding it there,” the report said.

In the video, the report said, Fullwood “notices the child’s face is bleeding and takes the child to another room to clean up.”

NCSO noted in the arrest report that the shirt the child was originally wearing “has not been located as of this investigation.”

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The deputy spoke to Fullwood and read her Miranda rights. Fullwood’s response is blacked out, or redacted, from the arrest report released by NCSO.

Fullwood “has been in this profession for more than seven years and has attended several continuing education classes” and “knew or should have known what she was doing could cause harm to the child.”

Fullwood was placed under arrest and as of Thursday night, she was still in the Nassau County Jail.

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