Inset: Nicole M. Laber (Collier County Jail). Background: The area in Florida where Laber lived when her infant daughter drowned (Google Maps).
A 31-year-old mother in Florida will spend a decade behind bars for leaving her 8-month-old daughter to drown unattended in the bath, then lying and claiming the child had somehow drowned in their dog”s water bowl.
Collier County Circuit Judge John McGowan on Tuesday ordered Nicole Laber to serve 10 years in prison for her role in the infant’s death, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show. Following her incarceration, Laber will be on probation for another 10 years.
McGowan handed down the sentence after Laber pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated manslaughter of a child. He credited Laber with 669 days of time served.
According to a probable cause affidavit, deputies at about 7:40 a.m. on June 17, 2023, responded to Laber’s home in the 1300 block of Everglades Boulevard in Naples, Florida, after she called 911 and told the dispatcher that her infant “had drown in her dog’s water bowl.” First responders arrived shortly afterwards and performed life-saving procedures before transporting her to Naples Community Hospital for treatment. Police noted that the child “expelled” water during resuscitation efforts.
The baby was pronounced dead by ER doctors at 8:28 a.m., police said.
Laber initially told investigators that she was caring for the victim when the dog and another child “escaped” out the front door. She said she went after them, leaving the infant alone in the home.
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“The defendant stated to deputies it took her about 2 to 3 minutes to bring the dog and her [child] back into the house,” the affidavit said. “When she returned inside, she discovered the child victim slumped over, face down, in the dog’s water bowl, which was situated inside the house near the front door. The defendant immediately pulled the child out of the water, called 911, and began performing CPR.”
At the hospital, Laber repeated her claim that after chasing down her dog and child, she returned home and “found the baby face down in the dog’s water bowl.” The bowl was 10 inches wide at the top and 5 inches deep.
An officer at the hospital observed that the baby was wearing “a clean, dry diaper” and she had a “fresh linear mark on her right thigh” that appeared to resemble a strap or belt.
At the home, investigators said they noted that the surface of the bathtub “appeared wet and there was fecal matter near the drain.” In the bathroom was also a small booster seat for an infant to sit in the bathtub.
Police said Laber’s husband confronted her about the story she was telling police, believing she was lying. Two days after the child’s death, Laber contacted police and provided a revised statement in which she admitted to putting her daughter in the booster seat in the tub, then leaving the infant unattended to use the toilet in the other bathroom, “citing her need for alone time.” Laber returned about 10 minutes later to a grisly scene.
“She found the child victim face-down in the water in the bathtub. The child victim remained strapped in the blue booster seat and had seemingly tipped over, with her head positioned towards the drain,” the affidavit said.
Laber took the baby out of the bathtub, removed her from the booster seat, and “placed the seat back in its usual location against the wall.” She then dressed her deceased infant in a fresh diaper.
“Finally, the defendant placed the child victim on the couch and called 911, informing the operator that the child victim had drowned in the dog’s water bowl,” police wrote. “This was the only water source that the defendant could think of at that time.”
