JONESBORO, Ark. — A daycare owner accused of striking a 3-year-old boy with a ruler pleaded guilty to second-degree battery and received three years’ probation, according to a sentencing order filed Oct. 28.
Khalilah Shaunte Parks, 48, entered a negotiated guilty plea to the Class D felony before Circuit Judge Scott Ellington. The order includes 10 days in county jail as a condition of probation and credits her with 10 days already served.
Parks must complete anger management and parenting classes, undergo a mental health assessment and follow all recommendations. She also must have no contact with the people named in the case’s no-contact order.
Although the order records her guilty plea, the court deferred further proceedings and placed Parks on probation without making a finding of guilt or entering a judgment of guilt.
The order lists a $50 fine, $150 in court costs, a $40 booking fee, a $250 DNA fee and a $250 public defender attorney fee. It also lists a $35 monthly probation fee.
The case stems from a June 17, 2025, incident at the daycare Parks owned at 1220 Stone St., according to court records.
A probable cause affidavit says the child’s mother contacted Jonesboro police June 23 after a daycare employee recorded the incident and sent her the video.
The video allegedly showed Parks lifting a ruler over her head and striking the child multiple times. The mother told police her son had a bruise on his left thigh consistent with the width of a ruler and about six days old.
During an interview after being advised of her Miranda rights, Parks confirmed she was the person in the video with the child, according to the affidavit.
The child’s mother later shared the video with NEA Report, saying it showed Parks striking her son.
“For the people in the comments saying, ‘what did the kid do?’ — what 3-year-old or ANY child deserves this?” she wrote. “We were not notified of any incident that would’ve made her do him like this until AFTER we received this video. I’m just going to say this, if a child brings you to this much anger, FIND ANOTHER PROFESSION.”
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