Covin’s trial to go before jury in Circuit Court

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By NATHAN GREGORY
citybeat@starkvilledailynews.com [2]

The case of former First Baptist Church Creative Learning Center child care provider Dianna Lynn Covin has been continued and will go before a grand jury in Oktibbeha County Circuit Court early next year.

Covin’s attorney, Jimmy Brown, asked that the case be continued until Feb. 13, 2013 to await the jury’s determination of whether she will be indicted, Starkville Municipal Court Administrator Tony Rook said.

Covin, 52, of 134 Josey Ave. faces two counts of felony child abuse after she allegedly administered muscle relaxants to two infants on May 17. CLC placed her on administrative leave the following day and her employment was terminated May 21. She was arrested June 6 and originally appeared in court July 2, when Municipal Judge Rodney Faver granted Brown’s request to continue the case until Thursday.

The infants, who were 7 months and 4 months old at the time of the alleged incident, were rushed to the emergency room by one of their parents and kept overnight under medical supervision.

Covin was released on $10,000 bond shortly after her arrest. She had worked at CLC for almost 10 years and had no prior arrests.

The Creative Learning Center is a full-time child care facility located at First Baptist Church Starkville and is licensed by the Mississippi Department of Health. CLC Executive Director Karen Graham said in a release following Covin’s arrest that the organization holds the health and safety of children sacred.