Ex-day care owner faces 27-count indictment

RUSSELLVILLE — The former owner of a Red Bay day care center where a 4-month-old died in March 2022 is now facing a manslaughter charge after a Franklin County grand jury issued a 27-count indictment this month.

Angelene Chamblee, who owned Tiny Tigers Day Care, was booked into the Franklin County Jail on the charges last Wednesday afternoon and released the same day.

A Franklin County grand jury previously returned an eight-count indictment in May 2022 charging her with six counts of violating the Child Care Act and two counts of second-degree forgery related to falsified employee records and improper staffing.

Franklin County Assistant District Attorney Joseph R. Rushing filed a motion not to prosecute Chamblee on June 3. The motion was granted by Circuit Court Judge Brian P. Hamilton on June 9.

“The new charges are as a result of evidence uncovered both in preparation for the trial of Payton Gann and uncovered during her trial,” District Attorney Jeff Barksdale said Thursday morning.

Questions of possible forged documents came to light during Gann’s trial in June.

Evidence was presented from a department of human resources representative of certificates Gann received, including one titled “SIDS and Sleep Safety.” The company which would have issued the certificates contacted the district attorney’s office and told them it never issued those certificates.

Prosecutors said during the trial that they believed Chamblee was responsible for the forged documents.

Gann was found guilty of manslaughter in the death of Autum Wells in June and sentenced in September to six years in prison.

Wells died March 9, 2022, at the day care after being left alone for up to two hours after Gann placed her on her stomach on a Boppy pillow.

Chamblee now faces a manslaughter charge in connection to Wells’ death along with 18 counts of second-degree possession of forged instrument charges.

Chamblee arraignment is expected to take place Jan. 8, 2026, Barksdale said.