An Alabama daycare owner is facing more than two dozen counts in connection with the 2022 death of a 4-month-old who was reportedly left unsupervised and on her stomach for several hours.
Angelene Chamblee has been charged with one crime of homicide, 18 charges of second-degree possession of a counterfeit instrument, two counts of second-degree forgery, and six counts of operating a daycare without a license, according to court records reported by local stations WHNT, WAFF, and The Red Bay News.
Chamblee, 49, was freed from the Franklin County Jail on Wednesday after paying bond, according to records seen by PEOPLE. Her bond was set at $40,000, according to The Red Bay News.
The allegations come from the death of 4-month-old Autumn Wells in 2022; officials claim she was left laying face down on a Boppy breastfeeding cushion for more than two hours before dying at a local hospital, according to The Red Bay News and WHNT.
One of the childcare workers drove Wells to the hospital, but the infant was later confirmed dead, according to WAAY. According to the site, the Alabama Department of Human Resources discovered many infractions at the daycare shortly after Wells’ death and ordered its closure a week later.
WAAY and WAFF reported shortly after Wells’ death that, in addition to Chamblee, four other daycare personnel had been charged in connection with the child’s death or with allegedly assisting in the cover-up.
According to the Franklin County District Attorney, WHNT, WAFF, and AL.com reported in June that one of the former employees, Payton Gann, was convicted of manslaughter and false reporting and sentenced to six years in prison.
Hannah Grace Letson pled guilty to tampering with evidence, according to WHNT, AL.com, and The Red Bay News, which also cited the Franklin County District Attorney. Payton’s mother, Teia Kay Gann, has pleaded guilty to witness tampering, according to WHNT, CBS 42, and AL.com.
Taylor Wells, Wells’ mother, has recently spoken out about how the murder of her young daughter affected her and her family.
“She was the whole center of my world,” she told WAAY in 2022, before talking about her loss. “You see, I get up and go to work. And before, everything I did was for her… and now, I don’t know what to do, and I don’t have a purpose anymore,” the bereaved mother said.
When asked what message she wanted to convey with other parents, the mother told WAAY that parents should be cautious about their child’s safety.
“If I could say anything to parents, it would be: Know your day care, know who works there, know what’s going on, and if you see something, say something,” she told me. “If it’s your child or someone else’s child, don’t be embarrassed. “Don’t be concerned about being wrong.”
