Etna mother charged in drowning death of infant son

An Etna mother is charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the drowning death of her infant son in the family swimming pool last year.

Brittany Garrison, 28, is also charged with reckless endangerment and child endangerment in the incident ultimately led to the death of her 1-year-old son, Leo Garrison.

The temperature on July 13 reached about 88 degrees by mid-afternoon, and Ms. Garrison took Leo and her 2year-old into the newly installed above-ground pool about 3 p.m.

They’d been in the pool for about 40 minutes when Ms. Garrison realized the toddler needed a new diaper, according to the criminal complaint filed against her this week.

She told investigators she “wasn’t thinking,” according to the complaint. She knew Leo needed to go down for a nap and, as she started to take care of her other son, she thought to herself: “Don’t leave him, keep him out of the pool.”

Instead, she went inside to begin cleaning up the toddler, police said. Ms. Garrison said she was only inside for a few minutes before she went back outside. She said she changed the other boy’s diaper on the back porch, about 27 feet from the pool where she’d left Leo.

Police said the infant was left in a red and yellow childsized raft with two seats in it, each with holes where a child’s legs would go. He wasn’t wearing any other flotation device, according to the criminal complaint.

Ms. Garrison said her mother arrived at the home about this time, which added to the commotion.

As she was continuing to clean up the mess the toddler had left near the pool, she said, she realized that she didn’t see Leo, according to the complaint. She said she “froze” for a minute and then spotted the empty red and yellow raft in the middle of the pool. Next to it, she told police, Leo was submerged head first in the water.

Investigators later found the raft floating upside down, they said. It had a label that read: “Flotation toy warning: use only under competent supervision.” The warning also cautioned users not to leave children unattended in the raft.

Ms. Garrison pulled the child from the pool, and he wasn’t breathing and looked “gone,” according to the complaint. She called 911 and tried to perform CPR but “froze up,” investigators wrote.

Leo was pronounced dead two weeks later at Children’s Hospital. Months later, the medical examiner’s office would rule the child died from an accidental drowning. Ms. Garrison’s mother told police that when she got to the house, she thought it odd no one was in the backyard, but when she saw her daughter taking care of the toddler she assumed Leo was down for his nap. She said she’d gotten home about 10 minutes before Ms. Garrison discovered the infant in the pool. She also said she’d recently told her daughter that Leo should be wearing “arm floaties,” but Ms. Garrison dismissed the idea.

Charges against Ms. Garrison were filed Tuesday, and she was taken into custody Thursday morning, Allegheny County police said. She was released on nonmonetary bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 10. Court records did not list an attorney.