Calling a 3-year-old’s hanging death a horrible accident, the attorney for a former Alpharetta daycare owner told a judge Friday the case should be dropped.
But Fulton County Superior Court Judge Henry Newkirk denied the request and set an April 4 date for Janna Thompson’s trial.
Thompson was indicted in September 2014 on second-degree murder and child cruelty charges after Thomas Maxwell Stephens, of Roswell, died while in her care. On July 8, 2014, Max was not breathing when he was found with twine wrapped around his neck on the playground of Ms. Janna's daycare.
Thompson gave the boy CPR and called 911, but Max died the following day at the hospital, in his mother’s arms, his family said.
The Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) began an investigation within hours of the incident on the playground, and the center was closed due to state rules violations and Thompson’s license revoked. The morning Max was found outside, Thompson allegedly had seven children in her care, though she was allowed by state law to care for only six, according to DECAL. She also allegedly left two infants and a toddler inside her home while she took three toddlers and a preschool-age child outside, the court order to close the center stated.
In court Friday, Thompson's attorney, John Garland, argued that Georgia's second-degree murder law, which went into effect July 1, 2014, and was passed to hold child caregivers accountable in the deaths of children under their supervision, was vaguely applied in this case and there was no negligence, Channel 2 Action News reported.
“This is not a case where a caretaker left small children unattended in a pool, or a similarly objectively dangerous circumstance,” Garland said. “A fenced in back yard with freshly laid pine straw is not objectively dangerous.”
Newkirk denied the motion to drop the case, saying he had concerns about the case and needed all of the facts before ruling. Garland said he would appeal the decision to the Georgia Supreme Court.
Thompson is currently free on $75,000 bond.
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