Virginia woman arrested after infant dies at her unlicensed home day care

JAMES CITY COUNTY, Va. (TCD) — Police arrested a 59-year-old woman after an infant died at an unlicensed day care center she operated.

According to a news release from the James City County Police Department, on Aug. 9, 2022, officers and EMS personnel responded to a private child care center on the 5000 block of Thomas Court to a report of a 4-month-old infant in cardiac arrest. Paramedics pronounced the infant dead at the scene, and an autopsy later revealed the 4-month-old died of sudden unexplained infant death (SUID).

Inside the home day care center, police observed 10 children, all under 5 years old, under Kimberly Henretty’s care without a license. According to police, in the state of Virginia, a caregiver cannot have more than four children “under their care at any given time without a license.”

A grand jury indicted Henretty on charges of abuse and neglect of children, cruelty and injury to children, and operating a day care program without a license. On April 17, following the indictment for her arrest, Henretty turned herself in to the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail and was denied bond. Police said she appeared in court on April 24 for a bond hearing, and “the denial was upheld.”