Background: The Happy Hearts Christian Academy Daycare in Daleville, Alabama (WTVY/YouTube). Insets (from left to right): Kailey Gilley and Magan Koker (Dale County Sheriff's Office).
Two day care workers in Alabama will spend years inside of a jail cell for taking turns hitting children entrusted to their care.
Kailey Gilley and Magan Koker were each sentenced to five years in prison as part of a 20-year split prison sentence that will also see them serve three years of probation afterward, according to local news outlets including CBS affiliate WTVY. They will not be eligible for parole during their terms in prison.
Jail records reviewed by Law&Crime showed that the two women were booked into the Dale County Jail on Oct. 10, 2024. Gilley faced four counts of torture or willful abuse of a child and eight counts of aggravated child abuse, while Koker was charged with two counts of torture or willful abuse of a child and nine counts of aggravated child abuse.
On Oct. 20, 2025, Gilley and Koker — who were reportedly 20 and 30 years old, respectively, at the time — had some of their charges reduced as part of a plea agreement, although the plea was "blind," meaning their sentences remained undecided.
According to the Dale County Chronicle, Dale County Circuit Court Judge William Filmore handed down the sentences after emotional testimony from parents of the children who were abused. One mother shared the anger she felt after watching surveillance video of the two defendants taking turns hitting her child.
When that same child was picked up from Happy Hearts Christian Academy Daycare — where the women worked — they reportedly had injuries, including bruising and swelling. The subsequent hospital visit sparked the police investigation into the matter.
"Officers met with the child's parents, who reported that the injuries were discovered after picking the child up from the daycare," Police Chief John Crawford said, according to the local newspaper. "The parents said the bruises were not there earlier that day."
Many of the abused children were too young to speak at the time of the abuse, rendering them unable to ask for help, several witnesses noted, per WTVY.
Happy Hearts Christian Academy Daycare is listed on Childcare Insights, a website designed to share information about childcare centers across the U.S., as "a safe and supportive environment for children to learn and grow" and is listed as being for children up to age 10. "Our passionate staff focuses on providing age-appropriate activities designed to enhance social skills, creativity, and cognitive development," it says.
The day care center reportedly closed after the two women were arrested.
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