New Orleans mother wants answers after baby is attacked at daycare

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – A New Orleans mother is demanding answers after her daughter was attacked at pre-school.

The incident happened a week ago at Angel’s Haven Daycare on South Claiborne Avenue in Hollygrove.

“To relive it is just a horror,” Cymande Ford said.

Ford is talking about the moment she was reunited with her daughter, 19-month-old Harley, at Angel’s Haven Daycare around 11:15 a.m. February 9.

Minutes earlier, she received a call from the school’s director, asking her to come to the school.

“I see [Harley’s] face, and it looks like she’s been mauled by a cat, so I start screaming, I’m crying, I dropped my purse, and I ask what happened,” Ford explained. “I took Harley, and I’m just asking [the school’s director] what happened.”

Ford says she was told Harley was involved in a “tussle” with a 1-year-old at the school.

The school’s director and daughter, who works there, reportedly went with Ford to the emergency room to get Harley examined.

“Seven bites up one arm, she has a couple bites up the other arm, she has pants on, but [the 1-year-old] has bitten through her pants on both legs,” Ford said. “You can see the teeth marks; they’re clear and visible.”

While at the hospital, Ford says the nurse started to ask questions to find out what happened.

“So, [the nurse] says, ‘What time did this happen?’ I say ‘11 o’clock’ because that’s the time they called me,” Ford said. “The daughter says, ‘Oh no, it happened a little bit before 8 [a.m.]’”

Ford says she wasn’t given an explanation as to why it took them so long to call.

WGNO called Angel’s Haven Daycare to see if they would like to share their side of the story. The director said ‘no’ and hung up.

“It was hard enough for me to send my child to daycare because I’m a business owner, and this is just crazy for this to be happening on her third day after something that I already fought myself with so much,” Ford said.

A report was filed with the New Orleans Police Department, and the Department of Children and Family Services is investigating the incident.