DOTHAN | RICKEY STOKES NEWS
Prison sentences were handed down this week for two women accused of abusing children inside a Daleville daycare classroom.
Kirk Adams, the Dale County District Attorney’s Office, confirmed that Keiley Gilley and Magan Koker were each sentenced to a split 20-year term. Under the sentence, both women will serve five years in an Alabama state prison, followed by three years of probation. Neither woman is eligible for parole.
The sentences were handed down Thursday morning by William Filmore.
Gilley and Koker were arrested in September 2024 and initially charged with aggravated child abuse and child abuse-torture. Those charges were later reduced as part of a blind plea agreement, meaning the defendants pleaded guilty without a pre-negotiated sentence.
According to Daleville Police Department, the women were accused of abusing children while employed at Happy Hearts Christian Academy Daycare in Daleville.
Investigators say the case began after parents noticed bruising and swelling on their children following pickup from the daycare. In 2024, Daleville Police Chief John Crawford told WDHN that surveillance video from inside the classroom allegedly showed the women striking children.
Happy Hearts Christian Academy Daycare closed shortly after the first arrest in the case.
