Barbara Lynn Woody, 55, faces a felony count of injury to a minor child, which carries a penalty of up to life in prison, or up to one year in county jail and/or a $500 to $5,000 fine, court records state.
Charges were filed in Sequoyah County District Court in Dec. 5 against Woody after she allegedly told police that she placed a wash cloth in a five-month-old baby's mouth, and then placed her hand over his mouth to quiet him, according to court records.
The child's mother, Tonya Smith, took the baby to the emergency room at Sequoyah Memorial Hospital in Sallisaw for redness to the left side of his jaw, temple, eye, and head. Smith told hospital employees that when the baby's grandparents picked up the child from the center, Woody told them that her two-and-a half-year-old deaf grandson had hit the baby in the face with a small car two times before she could stop him.
According to court documents, a hospital nurse said the redness was not consistent with the markings of a toy, and had a striped pattern of redness.
Woody allegedly admitted to police that she put a washcloth in the baby's mouth after he would not stop crying. Woody then told police that she placed her hand over his mouth for about two minutes until he quieted.
Woody was released from the Sallisaw City Jail on a $10,000 bond.
Woody's day-care center was closed at the request of the Department of Human Services while the investigation continues.
