Cape Girardeau daycare shut down, owner arrested on drug charges | News

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (KFVS)- Parents with kids who attend one Cape Girardeau daycare have to find a new place to send their children Monday morning.

The state of Missouri has moved in and shut down a Cape Girardeau daycare on possible drug charges.

One grandmother who pulled her grandchild out of the daycare before last week says she's glad she did.

"I'm not surprised at all," said the grandmother who pulled her grandson out of the daycare prior to the allegations. 

According to documents from the Missouri Department of Health And Human Services, on Thursday, the license of Beautiful Beginnings Childcare at 2625 Hopper Road was suspended.

The owner, Keisha McReynolds, was arrested Monday around 4 p.m., according to the Cape Girardeau Police.

McReynolds was arrested on a warrant issued by the prosecutors office for Class A felony distribution of a controlled substance near a school, Beautiful Beginnings Day Care. 

"It makes me livid to think my grandson could have been around them when they were selling drugs," the grandmother said.

A confidential informant with the Missouri Highway Patrol allegedly bought 16 hydrocodone pills for $60 at the daycare from McReynolds while there were at least eight children present on September 26.

After receiving the information from the Drug Task Force, the state immediately suspended the daycare's license and moved to revoke it.

The daycare's owner Keisha McReynolds can appeal that decision.

According to the state, on August 23, there was a complaint about parents having to bring milk for the kids.

According to state documents, the daycare facility also has a history of ongoing licensing rule violations including repeated violations of staff to child ratio, exceeding your license limitations and failure to correct violations related to the physical plant.

The state license allows the 20 children age's birth-12 to be there from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., and there are to be no more than two kids under the age of two.

Heartland News spoke with the owner of the daycare, Keisha McReynolds, over the weekend and she did not want to comment.

McReynolds was taken to Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department on $100,000 bond.

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