ST. FRANCOIS COUNTY — A child daycare worker killed a 3-year-old boy by leaving him face down under a weighted blanket for hours because he was whining at a Park Hills daycare center in May, according to a grand jury indictment Thursday.

The boy, Conrad Ashcraft, died of asphyxiation May 16 at Poppy's Playhouse daycare.

The worker, Tiffany Hedrick, was indicted by a grand jury in St. Francois County on felony charges of second-degree murder, abuse or neglect of a child resulting in death and armed criminal action.

Authorities allege Hedrick left him restrained and alone in a hallway during naptime because he was crying and whining, according to an investigative report.

Hedrick, 40, of Park Hills, was being held Friday in the St. Francois County Jail without bond.

Conrad was a nonverba

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