Licensed Maryland Daycare Owner Charged With Infant's Murder
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Licensed Maryland daycare owner Kia Divband, 35, has been charged with second-degree murder and two counts of first-degree child abuse after police say a 6-month-old baby girl suffered fatal injuries in his care.
On the morning of April 19, homicide detectives responded to Shady Grove Adventist Hospital for the report of an unresponsive infant.
They determined that the child had been at Divband's daycare, Little Dreamers, which was operated out of his home on the 1600 block of Grandin Avenue in Rockville.
When interviewed by investigators, Divband said the girl's parent had dropped her off at approximately 8 a.m. that morning and that she took a nap. He said she woke up at 10:30 a.m. and while she was in her stroller, he began to feed her a bottle. After drinking about half the milk, he said she started choking and vomiting. When she stopped vomiting, he said, he took her to the bathroom to clean her off and noticed that she was unresponsive and that her lips had turned blue.
Divband stated that he began performing CPR and yelled for his wife, who was upstairs, to call 9-1-1.
Fire and Rescue personnel responded and transported the girl to Shady Grove Adventist, where doctors noted subdural hematomas in her head, rib fractures and multiple bruises on her face and body.
The baby was then flown by air to the Children's National Medical Center in D.C., where doctors noted even more injuries -- retinal hemorrhages, a fractured femur and a fractured humerus, all in various stages of healing and classified as non-accidental, inflicted trauma, consistent with repeated incidents of physical abuse.
The baby girl succumbed to her injuries three days later, on April 22.
The girl's parents were interviewed at Children's National and stated their daughter had not been ill, and was in good health when she was dropped off at the daycare. They had a photograph taken on April 18, the day before she was dropped off at Little Dreamers, that showed she had no facial bruising at that time. They also stated she had no serious injuries prior to being placed in Divband's care.
On April 21, homicide detectives served a search warrant at Divband's home.
Police say blood evidence was recovered in multiple locations in the daycare facility, including in a stroller and a trash can containing bloodied baby wipes. Investigators also noticed that Divband had removed the girl's name label from her belongings bin.
On April 24, an autopsy was performed by the District of Columbia's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, who ruled the baby's death a homicide caused by multiple blunt-force injuries.
Divband will have a bond review today at 1 p.m. in Rockville District Court. He is currently being held on $2,000,000 bond.
Follow @CBSBaltimore on Twitter and like WJZ-TV | CBS Baltimore on Facebook
