Local & State Headlines

Care facility could close

• Government officials are seeking to revoke the state registration of a child care facility where a four-month-old died earlier this year.

J.D. Sumner

ALBANY — The operators of a home care facility for children are challenging the accuracy of a letter from government officials claiming poor health conditions at their home may have contributed to the death of four-month-old toddler in February and say they plan to appeal the state’s decision to revoke their license.

Thursday, a letter from J. Ashley Peacock — the chief legal counsel for Bright from the Start, a division of the Georgia Department of Human Resources’ department of Early Child Care and Learning — informed Earl and Barbara Ann Fuller that the state is revoking their license to be a home child care facility after they say an investigation revealed at least 16 rule violations that “jeopardized the health and safety” of four-month-old Jayce Hester.

Hester was found not breathing and unresponsive at the home Feb. 13. A Georgia Bureau of Investigation probe concluded that Hester likely died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or SIDS and cleared the Fuller’s of any criminal wrongdoing.

Earl Fuller said during an interview Thursday that the state’s decision to revoke their license was completely unexpected and that the six-page document outlining their supposed rule violations was filled with errors.

“The information in that letter isn’t accurately depicted,” Fuller said. “And we plan to challenge it.”

The letter points to both health violations and a lack of proper supervision and oversight as possible contributing factors to the decline in the child’s health, charges the Fullers deny.

The child care facility is located at 147 Dunaway Drive in Lee County.

In the letter, Peacock offers as evidence the discovery of dog feces under the child’s crib and mold growing on the ceiling and doorway of the room where the child was being kept the day he was discovered dead.

Fuller says that the feces was left by the Fuller’s small dog who was locked into the room by investigators when they arrived at the house. The mold, Fuller says, was not in the doorway and ceiling of the room where the child was being kept, but growing on a small patch near the shower in an adjacent bathroom.

The letter points to violations ranging from a lack of continued training in CPR and first aid to alleged improper disposal of soiled diapers and linens.

Fuller said he and his wife are still haunted by the memory of Hester and that his death will stick with them until they die.

“I don’t think people understand,” a tearful Fuller said. “We love these children like they were our own family. This isn’t our livelihood, it’s our life...his death just destroyed my wife and I and it still does when I think about him.”

According to the letter, the Fullers have 10 days to appeal the revocation of their license to an Administrative Law Judge. They will be able to keep their license throughout the course of the appeal, according to the letter.

Parents of children who attend the Fuller’s child care facility say they plan to continue using them regardless of the state’s findings.

“I know I’ve spoken with several parents and they wouldn’t use anyone else,” said Rashelle Beasley, who lets the Fuller’s watch both of her children. “They’re just the nicest people and I’m sure they’re going to be vindicated in the end.”

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