GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) -A day care worker accused of hitting a 4-year old child is found innocent.
Lashada Ward was charged last September with assault on a child under the age of twelve. Multiple people took the stand Monday before the judge delivered a not guilty verdict. The mother of the five- year-old girl says she wishes justice had been served.
“This kind of frustrates me, but I did everything I was supposed to as a parent.”
The victim’s mom, Shavonda Pugh says she’s upset with the outcome of the case. She says her daughter has been through a lot over the past year.
“The worst thing she went through was the actual incident and as long as she knows that when she grows up her momma fault for me, I tried, I went to court, I was at every court date, and was at everything they asked me to go to.
Pugh’s daughter attended daycare at Kidz Place on Memorial Drive in Greenville. On September 3rd last year, her daughter says she was hit in the cheek with a clipboard from her teacher, Lashada Ward.
Ward denied the allegations but was charged with assault on a child under the age of twelve. Her mother, Stephany Ward, the owner of Kidz Place faced obstruction of justice charges.
They both sat quietly in the courtroom today as the five year old girl took the stand. She says Ward hit her because she wasn’t being nice to her friends, but another child contradicted her story, saying she fell on the playground.
Other witnesses testified that the day care was a great place for their children even teaching them their ABC’s and potty training. Pugh says justice wasn’t served and she was hoping for a better turnout.
“Some of the witnesses that needed to be there were not present, that had more hands on with this case and it directly affected the case because without them here it was hard to prove things.”
The judge dismissed an obstruction of justice charge against Stephany Ward because a witness didn’t show up.
We reached out to the owners of Kidz Place and those defending them; no one wanted to comment on the trial.
Pugh says the hardest part of today was having to see her daughter take the stand.
