Alisha M. Stevens (Burke County Sheriff’s Office) and the yard where her daughter drowned (WRDW screenshot)
A 34-year-old mother of five in Georgia has been arrested in the death of her 1-year-old daughter after the little girl was left unsupervised during a cookout and fell into a 4-foot hole that had been dug into the backyard of the home and filled with water where she drowned.
Alisha M. Stevens was taken into custody on Monday and charged with one count of second-degree murder in the tragic death of young Adlyn Stevens, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
According to a news release from the Burke County Sheriff’s Office, deputies at about 12:45 p.m. on Monday responded to a 911 call regarding an unconscious toddler at a home in the 600 block of Winter Road, which is just over 150 miles east of Atlanta.
Upon arriving at the scene, first responders said they found someone performing CPR on “a small child” who was immediately transported to Burke County Medical Center in Waynesboro, Georgia, via ambulance. Medical personnel at the facility attempted to resuscitate the victim but were unsuccessful and she was ultimately pronounced dead.
“Preliminary information provided to deputies was that the child was left unattended for some time and while unattended the child fell into a hole that had been dug in the back yard of the Winter Road address,” the release states. “The hole was full of water and was approximately 3 to 4 feet deep. The child was in the care of her mother (Stevens) at the time this incident occurred.”
A probable cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime provided a few additional details regarding the circumstances of Adlyn’s untimely death.
The document states that Stevens caused her daughter’s death through “criminal negligence.”
The affidavit states that Stevens was “grilling and not watching her daughter” while the child “ran around the property.”
“Alisha Stevens later found Adlyn Stevens in a 3 foot deep hole filled with water lying face up unresponsive,” deputies wrote.
In a statement to Augusta, Georgia, CBS affiliate WRDW, Sheriff’s Col. Jimmy Wylds said he could not reveal additional details about the investigation, telling the station that authorities were awaiting the results of a pending autopsy and toxicology report.
Adlyn’s aunt, Rachel Lesesne, took to Facebook where she mourned the loss of her niece — saying the child “was a joy to everyone she met” — and also asserted that the whole ordeal was just a tragic mishap.
“This was an accident that could have happened to anyone. My sister loves all of her children and would never set out to hurt any of them,” she wrote in the post on Monday. “Judgement aside from anyone, a baby that meant so much to our family is gone and there’s so much more to the picture than what the internet leads you to believe. There are four other children that lost their baby sister and waiting for the results of this investigation without their mother.”
Stevens is being held in the Burke County Detention Center without bond. It was not immediately clear when she was scheduled to be in court for her next appearance.
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