BRUNSWICK, Ga. – The Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) issued an emergency closure Thursday for a Brunswick, Georgia, child care facility two days after a 16-month-old died.
Jamal Allen Bryant Jr. choked after he ate a watermelon. He was taken to the hospital, where he died Tuesday.
His parents are devastated and want answers.
“It feels like I’m living a nightmare that I cannot wake up from,” his mother Taylor Hicks, said. “I cannot wake up from this. And a part of me does not believe this is happening to me.”
Hicks said she and her partner, Jamal Bryant, who is the the child’s father, received the call from The Kids Nest Learning Center on Benedict Road, asking them to rush to the hospital.
The parent’s of the 16-month-old said they’d never given their son watermelon to eat before, and they wish staff at the learning center would have never given it to him either.
“I don’t even buy watermelon,” Hicks said.
She also said while her and her partner were in the hospital waiting for updates on their son, she knew something wasn’t right when the main doctor came to speak with them.
“She got the doctor, doctor to sit us down and once he told me to sit down, I already knew what happened.”
According to police, staff at the learning center tried to help Bryant Jr. before he was taken to the hospital. However, that’s something the family questions.
According to DECAL Inspection reports, the facility has faced a few problems, and one deals with First Aid and CPR.
A report from Oct. 13, 2023, showed “staff members #3, #10, and #22 did not complete CPR and First Aid training within the first 90 days of employment as required.”
They were placed on an improvement plan with a correction deadline listed as Nov.13, 2023.
An inspection report from April of this year, labeled First Aid and CPR, list it as “defer.” There’s also mention about another plan of improvement for the child care provider.
News4JAX asked DECAL what that report meant.
The department responded in an email, which stated in part, “First Aid and CPR was deferred because during follow-up visits, we do not evaluate all rules. It would be evaluated at the next unannounced regulatory visit (licensing study or monitoring visit).”
News4JAX also reached out to the child care facility but did not receive a comment.
The family said they wished they had known about the problems the learning center had before they placed their son in its care.
Now, they want justice.
”That’s what we want going forward,” Bryant said. “Like just make sure this doesn’t happen to another child again and to make sure whatever they do on their end, to make sure everyone has the right certification.”
The family has also hired an attorney.
The child care facility has 48 hours to appeal DECAL’s emergency closure before an administrative law judge.
If not appealed, the center will remain closed, and DECAL will have a maximum of 21 days to continue its investigation.
According to the Department of Children and Families website, when choosing the best child care provider you need to know if the facility is licensed, ask if all teachers are up-to-date on training requirements and ask if the facility meets all staff-to-child ratios.
Bryant Jr.’s parents said if you do that, it’ll help prevent you from heartache.
“Don’t take life for granted,” Bryant said.
“And hug your babies every day,” Hicks said.