Inset: Travionna Johnson in court. Background: The Washington state apartment building where Travionna Johnson allegedly left her 8-year-old daughter home alone (KXLY/YouTube).
A water leak from an upstairs apartment in Washington state led firefighters to a horrifying discovery — an 8-year-old girl floating face up and lifeless in an overflowing bathtub, according to police.
The child’s mother, Travionna Johnson, is facing first- and second-degree manslaughter and abandonment of a dependent person after the girl was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Johnson was arrested Sunday after a neighbor called 911 and reported a water leak coming from the apartment upstairs, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by The Spokesman-Review and local ABC affiliate KXLY.
When firefighters arrived, the front door was locked, so they had to break in through a window. Once inside, they allegedly found Johnson’s daughter unresponsive in the bathtub and rushed her to the hospital.
Johnson was at work after leaving the residence just before 7 a.m., according to the affidavit. She left her daughter alone and texted her sister to see if she could come over and watch the girl, police say.
Johnson told investigators she never received a text back from her sister, according to the affidavit. The sister allegedly told police that the child could not be left alone, even for a few minutes, because she had epilepsy and was developmentally delayed.
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The sister said Johnson normally arranged babysitting or other care ahead of time, per the affidavit. The girl, who is a second grader, had received more than three hours of in-home care the previous day, police say.
The caregiver told police that the child liked turning on the bathroom faucet.
When detectives questioned Johnson about abandoning her usual practice of ensuring someone was available to care for her daughter, she told them, “I don’t know how to answer that,” according to the affidavit.
“She was sorry for doing so and that she feels heartbroken and dumb and she will never be at peace with her decision,” the affidavit says, citing a written statement that Johnson allegedly provided.
Police say Johnson wailed loudly and hid her face after being told her daughter was dead, but she did not shed any tears or show concern while the girl was being transported to the hospital, KXLY reports.
“This was a serious, violent crime,” said Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Samantha Wright during Johnson’s first court appearance on Monday.
Johnson told police that her daughter operates at a 3- or 4-year-old level and admitted that she should not have been left alone, according to the affidavit.
The caregiver who last watched the child made notes from the visit saying the girl allegedly had balance and walking issues. She wore braces on her legs to help her walk and needed help walking on uneven surfaces and stairs, according to the caregiver.
The aide wrote that the child needed to be kept “within sight at all times,” according to the affidavit.
Johnson allegedly told police she had struggled to find sufficient in-home care after her daughter returned to school. Her authorized care hours had reportedly dropped from 120 hours a month to 68.
Johnson’s sister told detectives that Johnson had battled depression and experienced suicidal thoughts in the past, according to the affidavit. Johnson allegedly said she was depressed because she works two jobs, seven days a week, and is a single mother to a disabled child.
The affidavit says Johnson gave birth to the girl when she was 15.
“I know deep in my heart she loved her baby,” said Johnson’s mother, Kimberly Russell, during her Monday court appearance, according to local CBS affiliate KREM.
“She would never do anything to cause her harm,” Russell said. “And if she did, and if anything went wrong, I know it was not her in her right mind.”
Johnson’s bail has been set at $500,000. She is due back in court on Sept. 24.
The post Water leak from upstairs apartment leads to discovery of lifeless 8-year-old floating in bathtub after mom left the little girl home alone: Police first appeared on Law & Crime.
