Twenty-nine-year-old Heather Clifford of Hobe Sound, Florida, has been arrested after her 9-month-old son died from drowning in the bathtub. Clifford allegedly left the boy alone for at least 20 minutes on December 20 so she could take a nap. When she awoke, she found her son Cameron Davis unresponsive and turning blue. Ultimately, he was unable to be saved, and on Thursday, the mom was officially charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child.
Police responded to a call at Clifford's house around 11:30 a.m. the day Cameron died.
Martin County Sheriff William Snyder shared that the mom put her child in the tub with the water running around 11 a.m and left the bathroom, according to WPTV. "Allegedly, she just left the water trickling, intending to come back. Instead of coming back, she went to sleep," Snyder said.
The boy's 30-year-old father, Shawn Stewart Davis, had also been sleeping in the home when Clifford left their son in the bathrub.
Clifford found Cameron face down in the tub. Authorities think a ball blocked the drain opening and allowed the tub to fill with water.
“When she came back, she found the baby, what they described as blue,” Snyder explained during a press conference. “Obviously the child drowned.”
Clifford told deputies that she thought she told her husband their son was alone in the tub and that she might have fallen asleep, according to TCPalm. The couple's other two children — both younger than 4 — were also at home at the time.
“Obviously a 9-month-old alone in a bathtub could be prevented,” the sheriff said. “It’s very suspicious.”
When police arrived, the boy's father was performing CPR on his son in a desperate attempt to revive him.
Cameron was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead, WPTV reported.
A spokesperson for the Martin County Sheriff's Office said police have been called to the family's home three times in the past. After this recent incident, the Department of Children and Families removed the couple's two other children from the home and took them into custody.
Police have yet to reveal the results of the autopsy, which was performed December 27.
Authorities also have not revealed whether any charges will be leveled at the baby's father. So far, only Clifford has been arrested.
Meanwhile, neighbors remain shocked at the tragedy that unfolded in the young couple's home.
“They’re pretty quiet and seemed to be, you know, just young struggling parents trying to make their way through," neighbor Lisa McClintock told News 12. "They seemed nice to me."
