Inset: Jennifer Hernandez (Dona Ana County Detention Center). Background: The Discovery Development Center in Las Cruces, New Mexico (Google Maps).
A 27-year-old former Pre-K teacher in New Mexico is accused of harming a child while working at a day care after a security camera allegedly caught her hitting a little boy with various objects and slapping him in the face. Jennifer Hernandez was taken into custody this week and charged with seven counts of intentional child abuse, authorities announced.
All seven charges against Hernandez are third-degree felonies with sentences of up to three years in prison and maximum fines of $5,000.
According to a news release from the Las Cruces Police Department, deputies with the Dona Ana County Sheriff's Office opened an investigation at the Discovery Development Center located in the 3300 block of Del Rey Boulevard in late February. The investigation stemmed from a child's parents claiming their son was abused by a day care employee.
Investigators soon learned the victim lived outside city limits and was not in their jurisdiction, so deputies referred the case to LCPD.
An LCPD detective looking into the allegations then obtained surveillance footage from the facility and allegedly observed several incidents of "physical abuse at the hands of Hernandez, upon a boy under the age of 10," police wrote in the release.
All of the alleged incidents of abuse took place during the early morning of Dec. 9, 2025.
Police noted that despite the violent nature of the attacks, the victim did not suffer "great bodily harm." The department also emphasized that the Discovery Development Center had been "extremely cooperative with the investigation."
Court documents obtained by El Paso, Texas-based Fox affiliate KFOX provided additional details about the alleged attack on the child.
The documents alleged the footage showed Hernandez "picking up a blue chair with metal legs and striking the male child… in his chest with the metal chair leg." She also struck the boy in the face "with an open hand" and hit him "in the head with a black and purple pointer."
Later in the footage, Hernandez is allegedly shown hitting the boy with the pointer "until he falls to the ground."
Hernandez was arrested on Wednesday and booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center. She was initially held without bond but was no longer listed as an inmate as of Friday afternoon, jail records showed.
Police said the investigation into the alleged abuse remains ongoing and additional charges against Hernandez are possible.