Judge dismisses federal suit against 'granny' accused of killing infant

MACON - A U.S. District Court judge has dismissed a federal lawsuit against a former child-care worker accused of intentionally causing injuries that eventually led to a toddler&#39;s death. <br> <br> Fifty-year-old Pearlie Mae Jones of Macon, who worked as a ``granny&#39;&#39; for the Department of Family and Children Services, still faces charges of murder and cruelty to children in the January 26, 2000, death of Ariel Shaw. <br> <br> She also faces a civil suit filed by Ariel&#39;s parents in state court seeking unspecified damages for allegedly causing their daughter&#39;s death. <br> <br> Ariel&#39;s parents had filed suit in both U.S. District Court and Bibb Superior Court, alleging that Jones inflicted the toddler&#39;s fatal injuries and failed to seek appropriate medical care. <br> <br> But U.S. District Court Judge Ashley Royal ruled Jones was not acting as an agent of the state and consequently could not be liable. Royal compared Jones to a foster parent -- a role that does not meet the standard of a state agent. <br> <br> Ariel, who was born prematurely and had multiple medical problems, was taken into state custody in the summer of 1999 after doctors said her failure to thrive was because she was not being fed properly and not because of a medical problem.