Background: Gingerbread Manor Child Care Center in Rockledge, Florida (WESH/YouTube). Insets (from left to right): Nativia King, Kia Walker, Stacy Hamilton Jackson (Brevard County Sheriff”s Office).
Three daycare workers in Florida are facing serious accusations of repeatedly abusing children under their supervision, to the point where the young victims reportedly came to expect such treatment. These workers are also accused of attempting to conceal their actions.
The accused, Nativia King, 50, Stacy Hamilton Jackson, 66, and Kia Walker, 52, are charged with third-degree witness tampering. Additionally, King and Jackson face three counts each of first-degree aggravated child abuse, while Walker is charged with one count of the same offense.
The investigation, as detailed by documents obtained by Law&Crime, was initiated on the morning of January 16. The probe was launched when the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and Rockledge Police Department responded to allegations of abuse at the Gingerbread Manor Child Care Center in Rockledge, Florida. According to a DCF report, it was alleged that “all the teachers hit the children as a form of punishment,” using either open hands or a wooden spoon, which was reportedly a routine practice at the facility.
Upon arrival, officers noted the presence of a surveillance system with cameras covering the classrooms and other areas, as per court documents. However, when asked to provide access to the footage, Walker allegedly became defensive, claiming she did not have the password.
Authorities claim that Walker continued to resist cooperation by refusing to contact her technician or allow the officers to access the video immediately. The affidavits indicate that officers ultimately removed the surveillance system, deeming it critical evidence that might be destroyed if left in Walker’s control.
In the following weeks, investigators obtained search warrants to review the footage, covering the period from December 19, 2025, to January 16, 2026. The videos revealed various areas of the daycare, including classrooms, offices, and playgrounds.
On the morning of Dec. 19, 2025, King “could be observed in video surveillance, willfully and intentionally hitting multiple children in the back of the head, causing them to fall, hitting them in the face, and pulling their ears,” the affidavit for King states. “The defendant can be seen leaving the children unsupervised on multiple occasions.”
The document goes on, at length:
The defendant was also observed grabbing the back of the neck of a female child, as she pushed the child into a blind corner, hiding from the cameras. Moments later, one could observe the child coming back as they seemed visibly upset. The children appeared to be intimidated by the defendant, as they hid once she got close to them. At no point is the defendant observed doing any activities or providing care for the children; she promotes violence and presents aggressive behavior during those hours. The defendant inflicted mental and physical injury on the victims.
On the morning of Jan. 15, 2026, King allegedly “grabbed” a child “by the hair” in an aggressive way and “pushed him against the floor, while shaking him.” The child was “crying and in distress,” the affidavit for her arrest went on. “Within the same time frame, one could observe the defendant approaching another toddler child, and for no apparent reason, she willfully and intentionally strikes him in the face.”
That same day, the affidavit states, Walker could be seen in the video “poking a child with her finger in the forehead” as Jackson walks around, “hitting children with the spoon.”
The following day, Jackson reportedly entered a classroom “holding a large black-colored spoon.” She proceeded to approach a child and “hit [her] on her right leg” with it. The child appeared afraid, the affidavit said, as Jackson “willfully and aggressively swung the spoon,” hitting the child “in the neck and causing her to fall.”
Jackson allegedly then left the then-crying child unattended before placing her in a chair and slapping another child “on the side of his head, causing him to fall.”
That was the day that the DCF and police officers arrived at the facility, and the affidavits state that as they arrived, surveillance footage showed “the three suspects looking through the window.” The affidavits claim that the defendants were “obstructing the investigation by preventing the children from conducting further interviews, attempting to rip the cables of the video surveillance system, and concealing the object the kids described getting hit with.”
They all “denied hitting the children,” the affidavits added.
“In many videos, one could see the suspects either hitting the children or witnessing the acts of violence,” the documents add. “The children had adapted to the violence of the day care, and they expected it as a common behavior from the teachers. Almost every time the suspects were captured on video, they seemed angry and were torturing the children for no apparent reason, causing them to cry, flinch, and be scared.”
The ages of the children ranged from 1 to 4 years old, Orlando-based ABC affiliate WFTV reported, and the documents state that “a lot of them cannot speak for themselves or explain the abuse.” According to one affidavit, law enforcement “received multiple complaints from parents stating the suspects had reached out to them or their place of employment, to prevent them from making a statement.”
The city of Rockledge asked Friday for “any families who believe their children may have been a victim of a crime while attending Gingerbread Manor Child Care” to contact the police, noting the investigation was active.
Walker was reportedly Gingerbread Manor Child Care Center’s director, with a social media statement from the day care center in the wake of the charges being filed stating, “yesterday, the Brevard County judge immediately dismissed the unfounded and malicious charge of aggravated child abuse against” Walker, per the local outlet.
“The meritless nature of this false accusation became apparent at the earliest stage of legal proceedings,” the statement went on, with the facility threatening “legal recourse against those who filed false reports.” However, court records still show Walker is facing one aggravated child abuse charge.
King and Walker have arraignments scheduled for March 3, while Jackson’s was canceled for that day and is set to be rescheduled.
