Daycare Employees Charged with Abusing Non-Verbal Children in Disturbing Incident

Two former daycare workers in Alabama are set to serve significant prison time for abusing children under their care. Kailey Gilley and Magan Koker were each handed a five-year prison sentence as part of a 20-year split sentence, which also includes three years of probation after their release, according to reports from local media, including CBS affiliate WTVY. During their incarceration, they will not be eligible for parole.

According to jail records accessed by Law&Crime, both women were taken into custody at the Dale County Jail on October 10, 2024. Gilley faced charges on four counts of torture or willful abuse of a child and eight counts of aggravated child abuse. Meanwhile, Koker was charged with two counts of torture or willful abuse and nine counts of aggravated child abuse.

On October 20, 2025, Gilley, then 20, and Koker, 30, had some of their charges reduced as part of a plea deal. However, this was a “blind” plea, meaning their sentences were not predetermined.

As reported by the Dale County Chronicle, Judge William Filmore of the Dale County Circuit Court delivered the sentences following poignant testimony from the parents of the affected children. One mother expressed her anger after viewing surveillance footage showing the two women taking turns hitting her child.

The investigation was initiated after this child, a student at Happy Hearts Christian Academy Daycare where Gilley and Koker worked, was found with bruises and swelling upon being picked up. A subsequent hospital visit prompted authorities to launch a police investigation into the disturbing allegations.

When that same child was picked up from Happy Hearts Christian Academy Daycare — where the women worked — they reportedly had injuries, including bruising and swelling. The subsequent hospital visit sparked the police investigation into the matter.

“Officers met with the child’s parents, who reported that the injuries were discovered after picking the child up from the daycare,” Police Chief John Crawford said, according to the local newspaper. “The parents said the bruises were not there earlier that day.”

Many of the abused children were too young to speak at the time of the abuse, rendering them unable to ask for help, several witnesses noted, per WTVY.

Happy Hearts Christian Academy Daycare is listed on Childcare Insights, a website designed to share information about childcare centers across the U.S., as “a safe and supportive environment for children to learn and grow” and is listed as being for children up to age 10. “Our passionate staff focuses on providing age-appropriate activities designed to enhance social skills, creativity, and cognitive development,” it says.

The day care center reportedly closed after the two women were arrested.