IYANA ALLEN - 4 yo - Douglas Cty IA

It was a heartbreaking case — 4-year-old Iyana Allen drowning at a birthday party
in a swimming pool at an Omaha hotel.

And beyond the little girl's loved ones, no one's heart is more broken
than Deshayla Neal, her attorney said.
Neal, 27, pleaded no contest this week to misdemeanor child abuse in
connection with Iyana's death. Neal cried throughout her plea — as
prosecutors laid out how she brought the girl to the birthday party as a
favor to a family friend, then left to run errands.
Neal originally had been charged with manslaughter on the theory that her
actions unintentionally resulted in Iyana's death. That felony is
punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
However, prosecutors reduced that charge after consulting with Allen's mother, Monique Wise.
Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said he wanted to ensure that Neal took some
responsibility for what happened. Neal now faces a maximum of a year in jail.
Prosecutors said they would not object to probation for Neal, who has no record.
Authorities have acknowledged that there was confusion over who was put in charge
before the February 2010 drowning at Omaha Executive Inn & Suites near 72nd and Grover Streets.
Neal was holding a birthday party for one of her own children when she left to go get supplies, plates and
napkins, for the party. Several teenage girls remained behind — and
there was a dispute over whether Neal clearly communicated to those
girls that they were in charge of Iyana.
Neal's attorney, Douglas County Public Defender Tom Riley, said his client is distraught over what happened.
Video surveillance showed Iyana running next to the pool and jumping into the
deep end, then struggling in the water and sinking. An unidentified
woman grabbed Iyana, took her from the water and put her on a ladder near the pool.
The woman then pointed to the shallow end of the
pool. Iyana headed that way. Three or four minutes later, the video
again showed her struggling in the water. This time, she drowned.
Riley said the water was too murky for anyone to spot Iyana at the bottom of
the pool. The attorney said he didn't know if Neal could have stopped
the drowning had she been there.
"I told her, 'I suppose you're always going to feel some moral responsibility for this,' " Riley said.
"But the question is, 'Are you a criminal?' While she might do some
things differently now, that doesn't make her actions criminal. It's
just a terribly sad situation."
http://www.omaha.com/article/20111025/NEWS97/710259855/0