Nanny charged with neglecting 3-year-old who drowned in Chester County

A 28-year-old woman who was working as a nanny was arrested Friday and accused of criminally neglecting a 3-year-old child who drowned in a pond earlier this month in a case that puts a focus on the tragic consequences of cell-phone distraction.

Imani Lewis of Richmond, Va., was charged with involuntary manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child, the Chester County District Attorney’s Office announced. Bail for Lewis was set at $100,000 and her preliminary hearing was scheduled for Sept. 26.

Shortly before 7 p.m. Sept. 2, Tredyffrin Township police responded to Wilson Farm Park, a 90-acre recreational facility on Lee Road in the township’s Chesterbrook section, for a report of a missing 3-year-old boy who was nonverbal, according to the affidavit of probable caused filed in support of Lewis’ arrest.

Lewis was working as the child’s nanny and called 911 to report him missing. According to the affidavit, Lewis told the 911 call taker she last saw the child in the area of the all-abilities play set. He had removed his shoes and Lewis, who was seated on a bench nearby, had gotten up to retrieve them, and when she got back to the bench she could no longer see the child, Lewis initially told police, according to the affidavit.

She started looking for him, including asking others at the park if they had seen the child. One person urged her to call 911, which she told police she did about 10 minutes after last seeing him, according to the affidavit. An investigation, which included video surveillance of the park, revealed that it was more like 48 minutes before she called police, the affidavit states, and that she was on her phone for much of that time.

When police arrived, they searched the area and found the child unresponsive and floating face-up in a stormwater retention pond about 310 feet and down a slight embankment from the playground. A split-rail fence borders the play area, according to the affidavit.

The child, whose identity was not released, was in 16 inches of water about 6 feet from the pond’s edge, the affidavit says. After removing him from the water, police started attempts to resuscitate him and continued those efforts while transporting him in a patrol vehicle to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s King of Prussia campus, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy revealed the cause of death as drowning.

Tredyffrin Detective Michael Cermignano wrote in the affidavit that he asked Lewis if she had been on her cell phone while the child was playing. She said that she had but only briefly to compile a grocery list, adding, according to the affidavit, “I think that’s when I looked up and didn’t see” the child.

“Investigators later determined that the Defendant had been in contact with several people through phone calls and text messages, before, during and after the victim had gone missing,” the District Attorney’s Office said. “Video surveillance at the Wilson Farm Park showed the child victim utilizing the playsets while the Defendant was observantly using her cellphone and distracted from supervising the victim.”

Lewis told Cermignano she had checked the retention pond, saying she had taken the child there in the past to see the ducks, according to the affidavit.

After police found the child in the water, Lewis asked if she was “going to be in trouble” and added, according to the affidavit, “at some point, it seems like neglect because I should have been paying more attention.”

Video shows the child walking off the all-abilities play set at 5:57 p.m., climbing through the split-rail fence, while Lewis, about 90 feet away on a bench, does not appear to notice, according to the affidavit. The child can be seen running, walking, and then running downhill toward the retention pond and is out of camera view by 5:58. About a minute later, Lewis looks up, then stands up and starts walking around the play area looking for the child, all while using her phone, according to the affidavit.

Lewis would not call 911 until 6:47 p.m. The investigation revealed that between 5:41 p.m. (when Lewis and the child arrive at the play area) and 6:47 p.m., Lewis was using apps, making voice calls and text messages, and browsing the internet, according to the affidavit.

In support of the criminal charges against Lewis, Cermignano wrote in the affidavit that the child “required reasonable and vigilant supervision while at the park, both due to his age and developmental ability and his prior behavior at that specific location. … As his paid caregiver and nanny, Lewis owed a legal duty of care, protection and support to the victim child.”

It could not be determined if Lewis has hired an attorney.

Tredyffrin Police Chief Michael Beaty said in a statement: “This is a devastating death for the victim’s family. Our entire community has felt the effects of it.”

Staff writer Vinny Vella contributed to this article.