A Michigan mother is accused of being on the phone for 20 minutes while her 8-month-old son drowned in the bathtub.
Olivia MIller, 23, was arraigned on Friday on charges of involuntary manslaughter and child abuse in the death of Asher Johnson last November, WOOD reported.
Police said Miller told investigators “varying stories” in the course of the investigation.
She told detectives she put the baby in the bathtub, with the water running and a few inches of water in it, then left the room to switch laundry. She said she returned five minutes later and found Asher floating face up with his face underwater.
Detectives say she was on the phone for 20 minutes, however, before calling the baby’s grandmother — twice — and then 911.
About four minutes before calling 911, she texted her father, “Just trying to talk while I have time while Asher’s taking a nap.” MLive reported.
An affidavit from the chief medical examiner says the boy had been out of the tub and on the floor for 20 minutes before deputies arrived, and they arrived seven minutes after the 911 call.
Miller’s attorney, Frank Stanley, told WOOD that there was “no indication of intentionality” in the boy’s death.
“Just because a tragic event happened, it doesn’t mean somebody’s criminally responsible for it,” he said.
Miller is due back in court on February 14.
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[Featured image: Olivia Miller/Kent County Jail]
