Saylor Hayes’s mother, Geordyn Nichole Hayes, was charged with child abuse just six months before the nonverbal 5-year-old was found dead.
A report from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office stated that Geordyn, 31, was arrested on February 17 in connection with an incident that had been reported in the Abingdon area, according to documents viewed by News 5.
Geordyn was charged with child abuse/neglect: reckless disregard for life, and the report stated that the victim was a juvenile male. However, her relationship to the alleged victim is not currently known.
A second warrant for Geordyn claimed that she had willfully or negligently caused or permitted the child’s life to be endangered, per the outlet.
Geordyn was only charged with those crimes, and the final outcome of the case is not currently known. The Washington County, Virginia Courthouse was unable to be immediately contacted, as it is closed due to microbial growth.
Geordyn was arrested again after Saylor was reported missing on Sunday, August 30, while the family was on a trip in South Carolina. The child was found dead the following day.
Saylor’s dad, John Herb Hayes III, and Geordyn were arrested on Tuesday, September 1, in Tennessee in connection to their daughter’s death, and they were each charged with unlawfully placing a child at risk/wilfully abandoning a child.
An arrest affidavit stated that John, 70, and Geordyn had been accused of putting Saylor “at an unreasonable risk of harm affecting her life and safety by failing to provide supervision and safeguards appropriate for a severely nonverbal, autistic, 5-year-old child with a known affinity to water and a history of elopement.”
Saylor tended to wander off, so she was supposed to wear a Project Lifesaver transmitter. She began wearing the monitoring device in 2024, though it’s not currently clear why Saylor stopped wearing the tracker. Police confirmed that she was not wearing the device when she left the family’s vacation property.
The parents were also accused of complicating the search effort to find Saylor.
“[They] encouraged search efforts to be directed toward the use of tracking technology, despite knowing that the child was not wearing the monitoring device,” police said in the statement while announcing their arrests. “[They] further directed search efforts away from the nearby body of water.”
John and Geordyn are expected to be extradited back to Georgetown County for the case. It’s not currently clear whether either defendant has entered a plea or retained legal counsel following their arrests.
Saylor’s autopsy is scheduled to take place on Friday, September 4, in order to confirm her cause of death.
If you or someone you know is experiencing child abuse, call or text Child Help Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.
