TAMPA, FL (Hillsborough County)- According to an online criminal article on tampabay.com, a 23-year-old woman was arrested four months following her 8-month-old son's tragic death, who drowned in a bathtub. The woman was charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child. She was booked into the Orient Road Jail, and she was released six hours after she posted a $15,000 bail. The woman's arrest report was not readily available.
According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, the department has been investigating her 8-month-old son's drowning death since September 5, 2020. According to a search warrant affidavit filed by law enforcement officers, the little boy was tragically pronounced dead at South Florida Baptist Hospital in Plant City, Florida, according to a search warrant affidavit filed by law enforcement officers.
One hour before the child was transported to the hospital, the suspect called 911, stating that her son stopped breathing. She stated to Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office deputies, who took the call, that she put her son in the bathtub, ran the bathwater, and she left the bathroom. She stated that she was distracted, and she fell asleep as the bathwater continued to fill the bathtub.
The father, a 27-year-old ma, arrived at their home 30 minutes later, and he woke the suspect asking about their son. The suspect entered the bathroom, and she found their child in the tub and unresponsive.
Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office detectives stated in the search warrant affidavit that the detectives were investigating a possible aggravated manslaughter case. The detectives received the search warrant on November 1, 2020, to examine recordings that were stored in a digital video box located under a television inside the couple's mobile home. It was thought that home video cameras might have been wired into the video box.
According to the news report, the toddler's death was listed on a state Department of Children and Families database. That database does not provide the names of the children. However, one database entry recorded near the time of the child's drowning death read, "8-month-old infant was pronounced deceased after he was found unresponsive in the bathtub where he was left unattended."
The database entry stated that the Department of Children and Families did not have any previous engagement with the family.
The suspect's booking records lists the suspect's occupation as a teacher in Plant City, Florida, and listed her current home address in Plant City, Florida.
The suspect is on leave pending the outcome of the investigation of the manslaughter charges. A spokeswoman for the Hillsborough County School District stated in an email, "Once the district was made aware of the police investigation, she was removed from the classroom."
The suspect was hired by the Hillsborough County School District back in August 2019 and had no disciplinary actions on her employment record.