Welcome to Arrest Stories. A thirty-one-year-old Arkansas father has been charged with manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a minor in the first degree after his eleven-month-old child drowned in a bathtub while left unattended. Here's what may have happened.
On October second, two thousand twenty-five, James Dawson was at his home in Lepanto, Arkansas with his three children. At six forty-six that evening, Dawson arrived at his residence. Six minutes later, at six fifty-two, his wife left the home to feed a dog at her father's house.
According to police reports, while his wife was away, Dawson prepared a bath for the eleven-month-old infant. He plugged the drain and turned the water on. After placing the child in the bathtub, Dawson left the bathroom to seat his two other children at the kitchen table. The children had begun arguing because they did not want to eat what their mother had cooked.
At seven twenty-two that evening, Dawson's wife returned home from her errand. When she discovered the scene, she reportedly exclaimed, "Oh my God, the baby's in there." She found the eleven-month-old face down and unresponsive in the bathtub. Dawson was performing CPR on the child when his wife arrived.
According to the police report, Dawson told investigators he had left the other two children in a room watching a tablet and playing. He indicated the timeframe he left the infant unattended was "probably a minute later."
Lieutenant Devon Stroud was notified of the unresponsive infant at seven twenty-four that evening, just two minutes after the mother returned home.
James Dawson was formally arrested on February third, two thousand twenty-six, and faces charges of manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a minor in the first degree in connection with the drowning death.
All suspects presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Do not take this report as factual, always verify facts. Thanks for watching Arrest Stories.