Toddlers drown in pond while babysitter naps

[j2mirish]

Oh how horrible. My daughter is about to go through the red cross babysitting course where her name will be put on a babysitting call list. I will make sure to tell her better yet make her read this article so she knows the importance of babysitting. On another note kids do slip away very easily and in a split second. It has happened to me when my son was 2. Had the state troopers involved and everything they had to shut down half of the high way that runs by our house.It was a nightmare but thank God he was found safe about close to an hour later...

I agree, it happens to the best of us-

 

[kahskye]

I can't even imagine what this babysitter is going through. Before I had my dd, I use to babysit my nieces and nephews at my house which had a pool. Besides keeping the doors locked, we had pins installed at the top of the sliding glass doors. Accidents can still happen! All it can take is one time of not securing a door, and lives are forever changed. My heart goes out to this babysitter, family and friends. This could happen to anyone and NG should be ashamed of herself for being so hard on this poor 18 yr old who will probably never fully recover from this tragic accident. May God give strength and comfort to the families involved.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

What a tragedy! I do feel so very sorry for those families. May they find peace and comfort.

I agree that NG goes off on the wrong tangent on a regular basis. I don't know why she isn't all over the parents in the other case either. (Probably because she doesn't want to ire the wealthy parents and their powerful friends.)

 

[Dena]

How sad. I didn't catch NG, but I agree that blame should not be on the babysitter. She must be so hurt right now. It said she is related to the one little girl and lives in the house, I wonder if it is her little sister.

There have been many morning where I fall asleep on the couch while my son is laying with me. We have gates up so he has never gotten into anything, but I have woken up to poop on the walls and other things. I don't think the babysitter was slacking, she took a nap while the kids did.

This is such a shame, may those little girls rest in peace and my thoughts and sympathy to the family.

 

[BhamMama]

What a horrible accident! Those poor people!

I can totally understand how a child can get gone in a heartbeat.

One afternoon, two weeks after we moved into a new second floor apartment, I put him down for his nap and went into the next room to clean up. About 15 mins later it started to thunder and I ran into the room because I knew he was afraid of thunder and if it woke him up he'd be freaking out. Imagine my surprise when I walked in to find him gone!

He had found the switch on the floor to ceiling window, pushed it open, walked down 2 flights of stairs, across the parking lot and across a median and was standing in the parking lot of the grocery store next door. Cars everywhere at dusk. My heart jumped into my throat and I was a total mess by the time I got to him. He wasn't the least bit upset.

I was totally awake, less than 15 feet away, it can happen.

 

[KOOL LOOK]

Yes, b/c a teenager getting paid a few bucks an hour should be way more responsible than the child's parents who are well educated adults! :loser: I used to love NG but she ticks me off on a regular basis lately.

I'm sort of feeling the same way you are concerning Nancy. She is changing into a person with not alot of mercy.

We don't even have all the facts yet concerning this event, and to judge is way tooooooo early. But, the teenager napping there is no wrong doing there. She is going to have a lifetime of visual images and whispering all around her, pray for her, no matter even if she may have done something a little maybe careless, we may never know. I didn't know it all at 18, didn't have my first child til 26, and had never changed a baby's diaper when she came along.

To the poster right before this, Nancy was all over Maddies' parents in the beginning coverage. I noticed too that has simmered down drastically on her behalf. Wonder what's going on there.

I've noticed lately she's became quiet rude, even towards her nightly guests during every episode.

 

[luvbeaches]

To the poster right before this, Nancy was all over Maddies' parents in the beginning coverage. I noticed too that has simmered down drastically on her behalf. Wonder what's going on there.

I've noticed lately she's became quiet rude, even towards her nightly guests during every episode.

That's interesting about how she treated Maddie's parents in the past. And you do have to wonder why. I was just amazed at how angry she was with the sitter, and how she seemed to be okay with Maddie's parents going off and leaving the kids alone.

And if I know the real distance (by looking at the picture) of just how far the restaurant was from the condo, and the fact that the condo is on the first floor and not within eyesight of the restaurant, then NG has to also know this. She should be coming down hard on those parents. For all we know, Maddie could have just wanderd off. In fact, they are lucky all three of their children didn't go missing.

And I have noticed how NG does come down on her guests. I'm a big fan, but it's hard to watch sometimes when she's blasting them for no reason.

 

[ajc2804]

PITTSBURGH — A woman was charged in the death of her stepsister and another toddler after they drowned as she slept off a night of drinking, police said.
Brittany N. Steward, 19, was arrested Tuesday on charges including involuntary manslaughter. A preliminary hearing was tentatively scheduled for Monday.
"OK im finally done drinking and im rocked lol," she text-messaged a friend, using shorthand for "laughing out loud." The message was sent between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. last Wednesday, police said. Hours later, the children were dead.
Steward returned home from a party between 6:30 a.m. and 7 a.m. to baby-sit her 20-month-old stepsister Jenna Walker and a family friend, 2-year-old Maggie Kovski, police said

MORE AT LINK:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,278474,00.html

 

[MrsMush99]

This is terribly sad. I'm just at a loss for words.

 

[Amraann]

So she showed up after drinking and they leave the toddlers with her????

Who would do that???

 

[pedinurse]

This is so sad.

I just watched a bit of Nancy Grace and they were talking about this. I love NG, but tonight she was really out there. She was really on a roll about how this babysitter should be held accountable. She went on and on about the sitter "napping" and just cut the sitter no slack.

Then NG's next segment was about Maddie McCann. Now you'd think that she would have the same anger toward Maddie's parents, but she didn't. She kept saying how the mom and dad kept checking on Maddie, and they were just across the street. Well, they weren't just across the street, and if you look at the photos of where the restaurant is located, and where the apratment/condo is located, you'd think NG would have went balistic, but she didn't.

I just thought it was odd that she was ready to lynch the babysitter, but is giving the McCann's a pass.

My thoughts and prayers are with both of the families who lost their little girls today in that pond.

Yeah, I can see why it would seem weird to lynch the CHILD who screwed up by falling asleep with someone else's kid in her care, but not the ADULTS who left their own child alone as well?
I think both screwed up, personally. That teen shouldn't have been out drinking, ect. I think that both made big mistakes, and the children suffered the consquences.
I bet the players in both cases wish they could go back in time and change their behavior. Unfortunetly, we don't have that option!

 

[pedinurse]

So she showed up after drinking and they leave the toddlers with her????

Who would do that???

Did the parents even look at the teen before they left the kids in her care? Makes you wonder.

 

[pedinurse]

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=23951198

Myspace of the teen.

I know it says alabama but - the teen was located in Waterford, and there's a couple of little quotes that make me think that this really is her myspace (the RIP, the blog, and the headline).

 

[Dena]

http://www.crimelibrary.com/news/original/0607/0601_brittany_steward.html

Crime Library has some good details on it. It goes into the morning when Maggie was dropped and inconsistencies in Brittany's story. Pictures of the little dolls too, they were beautiful.

 

[nanandjim]

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=23951198

Myspace of the teen.

I know it says alabama but - the teen was located in Waterford, and there's a couple of little quotes that make me think that this really is her myspace (the RIP, the blog, and the headline).

This girl does not look like a bad kid. This is a terribly tragic accident. However, I think that the parents of the toddlers should be held accountable in some way if this teen is going to be charged. Weren't they negligent in leaving their children with her in the first place??

 

[Amraann]

This girl does not look like a bad kid. This is a terribly tragic accident. However, I think that the parents of the toddlers should be held accountable in some way if this teen is going to be charged. Weren't they negligent in leaving their children with her in the first place??

I think so!!
I don't even think the teen should be charged unless its for underage drinking.

Its the parents as adults who should have paid attention to the situation IMO.

 

[jilly]

Did the parents even look at the teen before they left the kids in her care? Makes you wonder.

According to Nancy Grace, the mother allowed the babysitter to have a 20 minute nap before she left the kids in her care.

Transcript for anyone interested. 2nd storey.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0706/05/ng.01.html

 

[pedinurse]

According to Nancy Grace, the mother allowed the babysitter to have a 20 minute nap before she left the kids in her care.

Transcript for anyone interested. 2nd storey.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0706/05/ng.01.html

as a mommy, that would be my red flag NOT to leave my children with her.

i know she is 19 and all, but does she live at home? my parents wouldn't have put up with underage drinking if i was under their roof.

 

[Hbgchick]

The babysitter was drunk. How can anyone say "poor girl"? She was DRUNK.

 

[Dena]

SNIP ~ http://www.crimelibrary.com/news/original/0607/0601_brittany_steward4.html

During her call to 911, Steward told the dispatcher that she had been outside with the girls when she left to answer the telephone. However, when police questioned her, she told them she had put the children down for a nap around 10 a.m., when she also fell asleep. She said she woke up about an hour later to the sound of a ringing telephone, and it was then that she noticed both children were missing. She said she observed the garage door was open and that was when she went outside looking for them and found them in the pond.

Steward admitted to authorities that she had been drinking, but she said she had gone to bed at midnight. Her statement conflicted with several witnesses who told police Steward had spent Tuesday night and the early morning hours of Wednesday morning drinking alcohol at a friend's bonfire party. Stewart allegedly left the party between the hours of 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. to babysit her stepsister.
"OK im [sic] finally done drinking and im [sic] rocked lol (laugh out loud)," is the context of a text message police say she sent to a friend between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m., at or about the time she was supposed to start watching the children.

Statements made to them by Maggie's mother also concerned police. According to Reneâ, she arrived at Steward's house at about 8:10 a.m. to see if Stewart would watch Maggie for a few hours. When she arrived, Stewart was asleep and Jenna was crying. Stewart assured Reneâ not to worry and that she (Stewart) was just a little tired. Nonetheless, Reneâ told Stewart to take a nap and that she would leave if Stewart felt ok when she woke up. About 30 minutes later, Reneâ woke Stewart and asked her if she was ok. Stewart assured her she was, and Reneâ left.