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Hearing delayed for suspect in child abuse homicide case, toddler’s family issues statement

Posted at 5:44 PM, Dec 05, 2014
and last updated 2014-12-05 19:44:04-05

ROY, Utah –The family of a child who died after being found cold and unresponsive at a day care center have released a statement regarding the case as the preliminary hearing for the woman who ran the day care center has been moved to May of 2015.

The father of 8-month-old Linclon Penland went to pickup the child and his siblings from Tots and Tykes Daycare on February 19, but he found his son cold and unresponsive. The child later died at a hospital. The center was being run by 34-year-old Tisha Morley out of her home.

Morley was arrested on child abuse homicide charges in April, and her preliminary hearing has been rescheduled for next year. Click here for more detail regarding the case.

The complete statement from the Penland family is reproduced below. The press release included photos of Lincoln and the Penland family, see the gallery above for those images.

“Although we are discouraged the court date has been delayed from its previous date in early December to May, we still remain confident in the judicial system. It has been 9 months since our little Lincoln passed away, and we didn’t want to let any more time go by without publicly expressing our gratitude to those who have helped us in this difficult journey. There are no words to adequately express our grief from the loss of our son, Lincoln. He brought so much joy and happiness to our family. We miss him tremendously!

We would like to thank all those who have shown their love and support to our family over the past 9 months as we patiently wait for the judicial system. The prayers that have been offered on our behalf have given us the strength and courage to continue on. We will forever be grateful for the caring hands of the medical staff at both McKay-Dee and Primary Children’s Hospital. We are also grateful for the diligence of the Roy Police Department, as well as the Weber County District Attorney’s Office. We have a long road ahead of us and although Lincoln is no longer in our arms; we know we will see him again someday and that gives us hope for the future.”