Pa. mother pleads guilty to murder charges after leaving 4-month-old unattended in bathtub
04/27/2022 3:33 pm PDT
LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. (TCD) -- A mother has entered a plea deal in connection to the drowning death of her 4-month-old child.
According to a press release from the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office, on May 20, 2021, Pennsylvania State Police responded to the Roadway Inn on Lincoln Highway East in Paradise to a report of an unresponsive baby. The parents of the child reportedly met with police in the parking lot and said they lived at the hotel where the deceased baby was found along with two other children.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, the child’s mother, 30-year-old Amy Manning, was helping the other children get ready for school, and the father, David Meadows, was playing video games. The 4-month-old victim was left unattended in the hotel bathtub with the water running.
Surveillance video from the Roadway Inn revealed the timeline of events, and it was determined the baby was left alone in the bathtub for around 20 minutes, the District Attorney’s Office says. The parents reportedly told authorities they often left their 4-month-old unattended in the bathtub despite the possible dangers.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, the 4-month-old victim was brought to a local hospital and later transported via helicopter to the Hershey Medical Center for lifesaving measures. The baby was later pronounced dead.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, the baby’s cause of death was freshwater drowning. Manning reportedly fled to Tennessee after the incident, where she was arrested by Nashville Metropolitan Police. Manning was later extradited back to Pennsylvania.
On April 20, the District Attorney’s Office says Manning pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and was sentenced to seven to 14 years in prison. Meadows’ case is still pending, and he is currently presumed innocent.
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