STUARTS DRAFT (WINA) – A 53-year old Stuarts Draft woman is charged with multiple accounts of child neglect as the result of the investigation of an October 2022 infant death. October 18, 2022, Augusta sheriff’s deputies and fire and rescue responded to an unresponsive infant child who was not breathing at a home on Stuarts Draft Highway. Life-saving measures were unsuccessful, and the state medical examiner has been unable to determine a cause of death.

However, an investigation finds Denise Stuart was the homeowner and was running in-home child care. She was found to be caring for 13 children at the time of the child’s death, which violates the state child-to-adult caregiver ratio required by the state. She is subsequently charged with 13 counts of abuse and neglect of children, and 2 counts of welfare fraud.

She is currently free on bond.