VERO BEACH, Fla. — In Vero Beach, a daycare worker is accused of throwing a child with force and hitting them with a Croc-style shoe.
Around 12:30 p.m. on May 15, investigators from the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office (IRCSO) went to the World Class Academy at 1285 6th Avenue to look into a claim that one of the employees had abused a kid. The Department of Children and Families (DCF) in Florida was told about what happened.
Another worker at the school told police that Tyree picked up her shoe and acted like she was going to hit the child, but they never saw Tyree hit the child.
The investigator said that she talked to the head of the facility, who said she didn’t know about the abuse claims and told her and the DCF worker that no report had been made. The camera footage from inside the classroom was shown to the investigators by the director.
In the arrest report, the detective says that Tyree went into a classroom that wasn’t hers on May 12. She then points her shoe at a different kid and then at the child in question.
The investigator said, “At this point, she walks aggressively toward the child and doesn’t pay any attention.” Once Tyree was close enough, the child looked up and flinched to protect their face. Tyree then lifts her shoe, reaches back “like she’s going to hammer a nail,” and hits the child on the top of the head with all her strength.
According to the police report, Tyree continued by grabbing the child by the arm and dragging them to bed for a nap. When Tyree got close to the bed, she grabbed the child by the arm and threw them down so she could make the bed. She picks up the child again and throws them on top of the bed.
Investigators say that Tyree kept going, and while the child was sitting on the bed, she used “her right arm in a stiff arm-like motion” to push the child face-first into the bed in a “malicious way,” even though the child was still crying.
Tyree told the police that she didn’t hit the child with the shoe and that she only wanted to scare the kid. Investigators asked Tyree, who is 5’11”, if hitting someone over the top of the head could hurt them if they were hit hard enough. Tyree agreed with the question.
Tyree was charged with one count of child abuse, according to the sheriff’s office. She was sent to the Indian River County Jail, but the court let her go on a $5,000 bond as long as she didn’t work at any school or other place that cares for children.
