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Delaware Supreme Court

Day care worker who killed baby frequently suffocated kids before, court records show

Isabel Hughes
Delaware News Journal

WILMINGTON, Del. – A child care worker who smothered a 4-month-old girl to death in September 2019 frequently suffocated the girl and other children at the facility in the months leading up to the death, new court documents show.

Police reviewed surveillance video that showed worker Dejoynay Ferguson smothered children on 28 different days dating back to June 2019, when Ferguson was first tasked with running the infant room, a recently published Delaware Supreme Court opinion shows.

Ferguson was 19 when she killed Isabella Talton at The Little People Child Development Center in Bear, a small town in northern Delaware some 10 miles southwest of Wilmington.

Ferguson pleaded guilty in April 2021 to murder and eight child abuse charges. Because of the plea, many of the details surrounding Talton's death and the abuse of several other children remained unknown to the public.

Ferguson was sentenced to life in prison last summer for Talton's Sept. 5, 2019, death, which her attorneys appealed. New documents filed with the appeal give additional insight into the crimes, as well as her lawyers' push for a lighter sentence.

In their appeal, Ferguson's attorneys argue the judge was close-minded when making his decision and that he failed to consider mitigating evidence, including mental health issues and her age. They also argue the judge sentenced Ferguson with the "sole purpose of retribution."

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While Ferguson's sentence was within the guideline ranges for the crimes she pleaded to, prosecutors had asked for 65 years in prison. Defendants who are sentenced to life in prison in Delaware are not eligible for parole.

Earlier this month, the state's highest court affirmed the sentence, saying it "cannot conclude" that the judge "sentenced her with a closed, vindictive, or biased mind."

The baby's death

Talton's death occurred on Sept. 5, 2019, about three hours after her mother dropped her off at the child care center.

Video surveillance showed Ferguson press her hands on Talton's face for about three minutes, including for a minute and a half after the child's body went limp the documents say. 

Ferguson confessed to the killing after she was confronted with surveillance video, Delaware Online/The News Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network, previously reported.

Previously:Parents of infant killed at Bear child care center sue facility

Dejoynay Mariah Ferguson, 19, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of a baby Thursday at the Little People Child Development site in Bear, Delaware.

Multiple children were abused

When police reviewed surveillance video from the child care center's infant room dating back to June 2019, when Ferguson was tasked with running the infant room alone with "minimal experience or training," court documents say, they found that she frequently suffocated Talton as well as several other children.

On 28 different days, beginning when Talton was 2 months old, Ferguson had "impeded" the child's breathing, "sometimes multiple times a day," court documents say. She also smothered two other children − though not to the point of death − on other days.

During the suffocations, Ferguson was repeatedly seen on video covering a child’s face "long after the child’s legs and arms stopped moving" and their body appeared limp. And twice, court documents say, Ferguson suffocated the babies until they lost consciousness, waited for the child to revive, and then covered the baby's face a second time.

Often, court documents say, the children weren't crying and Ferguson didn't appear angry.

Still, when Ferguson confessed to police that she suffocated Talton, she claimed she did it "out of aggression” due to multiple babies crying at once, according to the documents.

Months later, during a pre-sentencing investigation following Ferguson's guilty plea, she told a forensic psychologist that she changed the way she suffocated babies over time because "it was more efficient," the court documents say. She also said smothering the children was a "kind of 'release' for her and that once their bodies calmed down, she also experienced a sense of calm."

Ultimately, Ferguson did express remorse to the psychologist, saying that she still somewhat sees herself "as a monster" and feels "like a piece of crap." She also cited a history of family trauma, including a "tense and unstable relationship" between her parents that occasionally turned violent, and mental health issues.

The Little People Child Development Center on in Bear, Del.

Day care worker had little experience, training; court affirms sentence

In a pre-sentence report, the psychologist noted these factors as well as Ferguson's age and experience at the time. Prior to starting at the child care center in January 2019 at age 18, her only experience in child care was a three-month stint at another day care in Delaware.

Because of this, Ferguson was initially hired as a teacher’s aide in the infant room, but after just three months was left on her own, after the lead teacher who supervised Ferguson "was terminated from employment." Court documents do not detail why, and the owners of The Little People have repeatedly refused to speak to Delaware Online/The News Journal reporters.

"Ms. Ferguson’s neurological immaturity can also be seen in her initial response to finding Isabella not breathing and in her nonchalant attitude when at the police station," the psychologist wrote. Ferguson's unstable childhood, her father's sudden death in 2016 and a later bipolar diagnosis, "one is still likely left with the unresolved feeling of not knowing why (Ferguson’s) actions were so extreme or numerous."

Ferguson's defense attorneys argued in their appeal that the judge did not adequately consider these mitigating factors, nor did he properly take into account her age and brain development.

Yet during sentencing, the judge said he read "voluminous correspondence and presentencing materials from many different parties in this case" and heard from the victims’ families, Ferguson and both prosecutors and defense attorneys.

In its ruling last week affirming the sentence, the Delaware Supreme Court pointed to these comments, saying they did not appear to show a lack of open-mindedness.

Reach Isabel Hughes at ihughes@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter at @izzihughes_

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