A woman who worked at a Virginia Beach daycare is facing child abuse and neglect charges after a baby in her care suffered a fractured leg, with court documents detailing a day that began with a scream over a shoe and ended with a trip to the hospital. Jimmie Grantham, 63, is accused in connection with the incident at Just for Kids daycare on South Lynnhaven Parkway.
According to court documents described by WAVY.com, daycare surveillance cameras showed Grantham caring for four infants that day, including the child who was later found injured. The documents reportedly describe the morning as unremarkable — the baby was seen crawling and repeatedly pulling himself up to standing without any sign of crying or distress.
A Shoe, a Scream, and a Change in the Child's Behavior
Court documents reportedly state that Grantham said she noticed the child's left shoe falling off and that she twisted and pushed it back on. The child screamed sharply in response, according to the same account, and afterward stopped touching his bottle and was seen sitting and slowly crawling for the rest of the day rather than moving as actively as before. When he later tried to stand, he fell and cried, the documents reportedly indicate.
Later that afternoon, Grantham put the child in a high chair and tried to feed him a bottle, per the same court documents. She reportedly appeared frustrated that he was not drinking, and the child kicked at the high chair. Court documents state that Grantham then hit the child in the face with the bottle.
Hospital Finds a Fractured Tibia
The child's mother was contacted and took her son to the hospital, where doctors determined he had suffered a fractured tibia, according to the court documents cited in the report. An earlier WAVY report on the case said the child had been taken to Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters, where doctors determined he suffered a fractured shin, and that Virginia Beach Police and Child Protective Services were actively investigating the matter.
There is a discrepancy in reporting about when the alleged incident occurred: the most recent account places it in May 2026, while an earlier WAVY report said the alleged incident took place on March 13. Grantham has a court date scheduled for February 2027.
Family's Attorney Calls It a 'Systemic Failure'
Bailey Gifford, the attorney representing the injured child's family, said the allegations laid out in the criminal complaint were disturbing. “No parent dropping their child off at daycare in the morning should have to deal with getting a call that they’ve been hurt and find out that they’ve had a bone broken at the hands of a staff member,” Gifford said, according to the report. Gifford said the incident reflected a systemic failure of the daycare operation and that the family intends to hold everyone involved accountable.
Cases involving infants and broken bones at daycare facilities have surfaced elsewhere in recent months. In North Carolina, a Fuquay-Varina woman, Mia Pennington, was arrested and charged after a 9-month-old in her care suffered multiple leg fractures at what WRAL described as an unlicensed daycare, with charges including felony child abuse and felony providing child care without a license; her next court appearance is scheduled for Dec. 3. In Georgia, a Clayton County jury awarded a family $2 million after their child suffered a nondisplaced spiral fracture of his femur at an Atlanta daycare in January 2023, according to WSB-TV, which reported the boy's mother had sued the center alleging negligence.
Virginia's child care oversight agency, Child Care VA, maintains reports on complaints accepted, founded, and unfounded by locality, and requires providers to report child deaths and serious injuries occurring in their care. The agency also notes that families can review inspection results and violation histories for licensed providers, or contact a licensing inspector directly with unanswered questions. No locality-specific complaint or inspection history for Just for Kids daycare was available in the records reviewed for this report.
