Two of the three Memphis daycare workers charged in the death of 6-year-old Winter Jones were back in court Friday morning, as a case that has drawn scrutiny over daycare transportation safety grinds toward its next phase. Tametria Norry and Sabrina Powe appeared for a scheduled hearing, while the third defendant, Amilya Hardin, was excused by a judge because she attends college full-time in Shelby County.
Norry, Powe and Hardin are each charged with aggravated child neglect, criminally negligent homicide, and destruction of or tampering with governmental records, according to WREG. All three have entered not-guilty pleas, and a Shelby County grand jury indicted them on September 10. Friday’s hearing was expected to provide an update on where the case stands, though no outcome has been reported publicly.
The case centers on what happened to Jones, a 6-year-old who was nonverbal and autistic, on August 13. Her father said she was left for hours on a Kid University daycare bus that day, the station’s report notes, and she was later taken to a hospital in critical condition, where she was pronounced dead. The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office says Jones remained inside the daycare vehicle after it returned to Kid University and was discovered unresponsive later that afternoon.
Who the Defendants Are and What They Allegedly Admitted
The District Attorney’s Office identified Norry as the driver of the van, Powe as Kid University’s assistant director, and Hardin as an assistant at the daycare. According to the same office, all three admitted they did not conduct a walk-through of the bus to confirm the children had exited, but they signed a transportation log indicating one had been done. The Tennessee Department of Human Services reported that Norry said she skipped the walk-through because she was hot, per the same account from the station’s report.
Norry’s attorney, Lauren Massey Fuchs, has described Jones’s death as tragic but not intentional. Fuchs has also said her client had no prior criminal history and had positive family and work histories, according to the outlet’s reporting.
Inspection Found Multiple Transportation Failures
A state fatality inspection found Kid University noncompliant with several transportation requirements, including vehicle inspection procedures, accurate transportation logs, and required vehicle walk-throughs, the District Attorney’s Office said. A separate inspection report cited by Action News 5 found the daycare noncompliant on five transportation policies, including a missing vehicle monitoring device, unavailable documentation of required transportation training, and a transportation log the driver had not accurately completed.
The Tennessee Department of Health reported that an inspection found five areas of non-compliance with state regulations, as reported by WREG. Accounts of when Kid University shut down diverge: WREG, citing the Tennessee Department of Health, says the facility surrendered its license and permanently closed effective August 14, 2026, while Action News 5 has reported that Kid University closed permanently on the day Jones died, August 13, 2026.
A Prior Violation at a Different Facility
WREG’s reporting on the case also notes that Ivy League Learning Center #2, a separate facility unrelated to Kid University, was cited for supervision violations in July 2021 after an infant was not moved to a crib after falling asleep on the floor. The comparison appeared in the outlet’s coverage of the indictment but does not establish any broader pattern tied to this case.
For now, the legal process continues to move forward under the three charges filed against Norry, Powe and Hardin, with Friday’s hearing marking the latest checkpoint since the September indictment. No additional court dates or case developments beyond Friday’s scheduled hearing have been reported.
