ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) — A murder investigation in Albany has led a local daycare owner to question how police obtained and handled her surveillance system.

Charlice Noble-Duke says she was willing to help investigators find a vehicle believed to be connected to the killing. She says the loss of her surveillance system created problems for her business.

Daycare owner describes cooperation with investigators

Noble-Duke says she felt open and exposed to potential litigation without cameras around her daycare for several days. She got the system back from the police a couple of days later, but says it is still not working properly.

“We’re friends of the police. You know, we cooperate with the police. You know, we’re not criminals,” Noble-Duke said.

Noble-Duke says the center director could not access the system because she had been locked out. Noble-Duke says only she and the alarm company could operate it. She says that when an investigator returned, she arranged for the alarm company to be there and expected the police to review the footage.

“And he came with the footage queued up, ready to press play. They could have watched it, recorded it, downloaded it, whatever, and just left,” Noble-Duke said.

Owner says police took entire system instead of reviewing footage

Noble-Duke says that is not what happened. She says investigators instead served a warrant and took the surveillance system.

“The warrant was for the street. They cloned my entire system. They have babies being changed. Children may be standing exposed. You know, they have footage that doesn’t belong to them and it’s outside of the scope of the warrant. And I feel like that’s an overreach of power,” Noble-Duke said.

Daycare van stolen while system was gone

Noble-Duke says the impact went beyond the days her daycare was without its surveillance system.

After the police took the system, one of the daycare vans was stolen. The daycare is now renting a replacement van while trying to afford another one.

“Like, we’re down a van. The van was stolen. We would have immediately called the police and showed them the footage of whoever it was that stole our van. We couldn’t do that,” Noble-Duke said.

Noble-Duke says the exterior cameras were designed mainly to monitor the daycare entrance and see who was coming in and out, while higher-quality cameras inside the building monitor the classrooms.

She says she has spent thousands of dollars restoring the system and is still dealing with recording problems.

Albany Police respond

Albany Police say the investigation remains active and investigators are continuing efforts to locate the van involved.

In a statement, the department says investigators have maintained communication with the business owner but says they cannot release specific details about investigative procedures or evidence collection while the investigation is ongoing.

“Number one, I hope to be made whole. I don’t know that I even want an apology. I want a, this won’t happen again. And we will do better,” Noble-Duke said.

Noble-Duke says she has filed a complaint with Albany Police, raising concerns about the investigator’s conduct and the information used to obtain the warrant.

WALB News 10 is working to obtain the warrant application to determine what investigators told the judge and what evidence they were authorized to seize.

Have a news tip or see an error that needs correction? Let us know. Please include the article’s headline in your message.

To stay up to date on all the latest news as it develops, follow WALB on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and X. For more south Georgia news, download the WALB News app and add WALB as a preferred source on Google.

Copyright 2026 WALB. All rights reserved.