Daycare worker arrested for slapping child in face, causing his head to hit a trash can

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Tarra Lakendra Houston, 48, a daycare worker, was arrested yesterday for allegedly slapping a child in the face, causing him to fall and hit his head on a metal trash can; the child also reportedly sustained a bloody nose in the incident.

The victim’s mother reportedly told a Gainesville Police Department officer on Tuesday, July 28, that when she picked her son up from Small World Daycare (1214 NW 4th Street) on Friday, July 24, he said his teacher had hit him in the face; the victim’s mother said he mentioned several times over the weekend that the teacher had hit him in the nose and mouth.

The victim’s mother said she contacted the school on Monday, July 27, and asked to view the video footage of the incident; she said the video showed Houston calling her son over, and although the angle of the video blocked part of the incident, she could see Houston hit her son. The victim’s mother said this was a traumatic incident for her son, and she intended to seek counseling for him.

The victim’s mother said Houston had been calling her and had sent her two texts, saying she wanted to talk about the incident, but the victim’s mother said she had not responded.

The officer who took the initial report called the Department of Children and Families (DCF), where an investigator said they would document the incident but did not plan to respond because of the limited information available.

On Wednesday, July 29, the victim’s mother took her son to GPD Headquarters, and the victim told an officer that Houston had punched him in the face and then told him to lie down and go to sleep. When the officer asked if Houston had hit him with an open or closed hand, the victim reportedly held out his closed fist. When the officer asked whether his nose had bled, the victim’s eyes reportedly “got wide,” and he said yes and nodded his head.

An officer asked the director of Small World Daycare to send any video of the incident, and she sent over a video that reportedly shows Houston standing next to a food cart and then shows her hitting the victim, pushing him backwards into a silver canister. The victim gets up and walks to a cot, holding his nose the whole way.

On Wednesday afternoon, a GPD officer responded to Small World Daycare with a DCF investigator; the investigator’s paperwork stated that on July 24, during a transition from lunch to nap time, the victim appeared to be getting ready for a nap when he jumped up and “threw” his cot. Houston called him over to her, and then she allegedly moved a cart to block the camera and slapped the victim three times on his face, causing the victim to hit his head on a trash can; the victim sustained a bloody nose, and Houston was terminated on July 27.

The director of Small World Daycare reportedly showed the officer and investigator two videos from different angles. The first video shows the victim by his cot, playing with his friends; he starts swinging his blanket playfully at one of his classmates, and Houston “can be heard screaming” at him to come to her. Houston is standing behind a cart that blocks her from view. Houston says something, and the victim walks behind the cart. After the other children walk away, Houston reportedly pulls the victim back into the view of the camera, and then he crouches down while Houston tries to block the camera view, but her arm can be seen rapidly moving toward the victim. The victim’s head flies back and hits the metal trash can, and then he runs away, holding his face.

The second video reportedly shows Houston emptying dishes into the trash and then placing them on the cart; she yells for the victim to stop and come to her. The victim comes over, and after the other children walk away, she grabs the victim’s arm and pulls him behind the cart while angling the cart to block one of the cameras. She then allegedly pushes the victim’s head and tells him to get down. When the victim crouches down, she can be seen “making a swift motion” toward the victim’s face; the victim appears to put his hands over his face while crouching lower. Houston allegedly tells the victim to “come here,” pulls his hands away from his face, makes sure he is looking at her, and uses the back of her hand to hit his face “with great force.” The victim recoils, and his head slams into the nearby metal trash can, which produces a clear sound. The victim gets up while Houston screams at him to go take a nap, and the victim runs away, holding his nose and mouth.

An officer spoke with Houston at her home, and post Miranda, she reportedly said the victim likes to help her clean dishes, but he had recently broken a couple of dishes, so she hasn’t been letting him help. She said that on the day of the incident, the victim walked up and tried to grab some plates to help, but she tried to stop him, saying she would take care of it. She said the victim fell while pulling the cart, accidentally hitting his face.

The officer showed Houston the video and asked her about the differences between her account and the video: the video does not show the victim grabbing any plates, it shows Houston calling him over to her and pulling him behind the cart, and it shows her pulling him down before hitting his face. Houston reportedly said it was hard to remember, and she did not have any further information to provide.

Houston has been charged with child abuse without causing great bodily harm. Locally, Houston has one felony conviction (non-violent) and two misdemeanor convictions (non-violent), with the most recent conviction in March 2000. Judge Olin Shinholser ordered her held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s Office to hold her without bail until trial; if the judge denies the motion, bail will be set at that hearing.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.