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Mom of child assaulted at Philly daycare speaks out as video surfaces
A police affidavit says Philadelphia daycare worker, Nakia Bartley, 50, is accused of assaulting a six-year-old child and now faces charges.
PHILADELPHIA - A Philadelphia daycare worker is facing several charges, including aggravated assault against a six-year-old girl.
What we know:
A police affidavit said Nakia Bartley, 50, pushed the child to the ground, dragged her by the legs into the bathroom and punched the girl in her mouth.
Detectives noted several videos of the incident were taken by daycare attendees.
What they're saying:
Child's mom speaks out
"I was furious. I got the video while I was at work," said the Diamond Murray, the victim’s mother. "I dropped my phone. I just started crying. Where are all the other adults? Why did no one help my daughter? My daughter screams. She screamed and screamed and screamed. Every video you hear she’s screaming. Nobody ever helped my daughter."
Murray said Bartley is the director of Rainbow Daycare & Learning Center in Strawberry Mansion. Murray said her daughter sustained a cut to her mouth and her tooth is now loose from the attack.
She also raised further concerns about what happened behind the closed door after Bartley allegedly dragged her daughter into the bathroom.
Police said Murray’s daughter was treated at CHOP for her injuries.
"There’s never going to be a day that I can’t think about it when I see it when I hear it when people call me just to console my daughter. It hurts," said Murray. "If you couldn’t handle her if you weren’t in the right state of mind to deal with her that day you could’ve called my phone—please come get your daughter, I just can’t do it today and I would’ve been there to get her."
The other side:
Bartley's lawyer speaks out
Bartley is being represented by lawyer Lonny Fish, who told FOX 29 the videos only show a small portion of the incident and insists there’s more to it than what people are seeing.
"My client started working in daycare in the early 90s in 1993 and it shows that she has an impeccable record," said Fish. "She’s cared for probably over a thousand if not more children that all live here in Philadelphia and not having one complaint."
Dig deeper:
The Department of Human Services tells FOX 29 it issued an emergency removal order requiring the daycare to cease operations for the time being.
A spokesperson said affected families were provided information for Philadelphia’s Early Learning Resource Center to assist in finding a new childcare program.
"The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services’ top priority is protecting children and keeping them safe. As soon as a complaint investigation was conducted, DHS issued an emergency removal order requiring the immediate removal of children from Gregs Rainbow Daycare (d/b/a Rainbow Daycare and Learning) on August 13, 2025," said Ali Fogarty, DHS Communications Director.
What's next:
Barley was released from custody on the condition she has no unsupervised time with children, according to her lawyer.
Her lawyer also said her next scheduled court appearance on Monday is expected to get postponed.