A mother was arrested on a manslaughter charge after authorities said her 7-month-old son drowned in a bathtub at her Miami-Dade home while she was doing her nails in the garage. NBC 6’s Jamie Guirola reports
A mother was arrested on a manslaughter charge after authorities said her 7-month-old son drowned in a bathtub at her Miami-Dade home while she was doing her nails in the garage.
Alyssa Carolyn Jimmie, 22, was arrested Wednesday on a charge of aggravated manslaughter of a child under 18, Miami-Dade jail records showed.
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The drowning happened the afternoon of May 20 at her home on Southwest 154th Avenue.
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According to an arrest affidavit, Jimmie had put the infant in a bathtub with his 3-year-old brother and left the water running.
Jimmie said she felt comfortable leaving the kids in the bathtub with the water running due to a missing drain plug, which she said allows the water to flow freely down the drain, the affidavit said.
Jimmie said she left the children unattended as she went to the garage to do her nails at an at-home manicure station, the affidavit said.
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The garage is about 62 feet away from the bathtub.
According to the affidavit, about 5 to 10 minutes later Jimmie returned to check on them and found the drain clogged with a small face towel and the tub filled with water.
The infant was unconscious in the water with the brother playing in the tub nearby, the affidavit said.
Jimmie took the infant out of the tub and started CPR, but her phone wasn't working so she went next door to a neighbor, who called 911, the affidavit said.
The 7-month-old boy was brought to a local hospital where they restored his heartbeat but he was presumed brain dead. Three days later, on May 23, the infant was pronounced dead.
Investigators determined he'd been under CPR procedures without a heartbeat for about 45 minutes to an hour, the affidavit said.
Jimmie said her 3-year-old son knew how to clog the drain with the towel to fill the tub on his own.
When investigators tested the tub they found that when the drain wasn't blocked, the tub wouldn't fill past two inches. When the drain was clogged with the towel, it was filled halfway at five minutes and completely filled at ten minutes, the affidavit said.
The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner performed an autopsy that determined the infant's cause of death as drowning and classified the manner of death as an accident, the affidavit said.
The affidavit said Jimmie "failed to provide 'the victim' with the proper care that a prudent person would consider essential to the well-being of a seven-month-old child," and said her "negligence resulted in the untimely death of 'the victim.'"
The affidavit said Jimmie is a member of the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida, which is a federally recognized tribe and sovereign government.
Jimmie appeared in court Thursday, where her bond was set at $10,000.
"This is a very sad set of facts," Judge Mindy Glazer said. "I'm sorry for the family's loss."
Her father was at the hearing and told the judge it was unintentional. Jimmie's attorney also said it was a tragic accident and said what was in the arrest form was inaccurate.
