WOMAN ACQUITTED OF CHILD ENDANGERMENT CHARGES

A jury yesterday acquitted a woman accused of hurting an autistic child in her care.  The Trib reports that it took 25 minutes for the jury to return not guilty verdicts on counts of aggravated assault, simple assault and child endangerment against Tonya Piper.  She was accused of slamming a child into a chair, shoving him into a table and then covering his mouth during an incident in February of 2022 at Cooley Day Care at First Presbyterian Church of Greensburg.  Defense attorney Heidi DeBernardo Norton told jurors the video of the incident supported Piper’s claims that she did no wrong.