DANIEL STOCKER - 2 yo - Augusta GA

Published: March 21, 2012

Augusta, GA -- WJBF News Channel 6 has learned the mother of a 2-year-old boy who was missing for several hours on Wednesday morning and then was found in the family's pool has been arrested in the child's death.

At 9:05 a.m., Richmond County Sheriff's Office deputies were called to 3816 Creighton Place in reference to a missing 2-year-old, Daniel Stocker.

After several hours of searching the area, the child's body was found below the murky water of the unkempt pool located in the backyard of the residence.

Daniel Stocker was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators subsequently interviewed Lisa Stocker, Daniel's mother, who admitted that she was asleep and not attending to the needs of her youngest child. Lisa Stocker only became aware of Daniel's disappearance after a neighbor alerted her to the family’s dogs running loose in the neighborhood.

Lisa Stocker was subsequently booked into the Richmond County Jail for Misdemeanor Deprivation of a Child and Felony Involuntary Manslaughter.

This incident is still under investigation and investigators tell us no further details will be released, at this time.

http://www2.wjbf.com/news/2012/mar/21/mother-arrested-after-2-year-old-goes-missing-drow-ar-3455110/

$25,000 bond set for mother of Augusta 2-year-old who drowned
Woman accused of abusing pills

By Kyle Martin, Staff Writer
Friday, April 13, 2012

Bond was set at $25,000 Fri­day for a woman charged in her 2-year-old son’s March 21 drowning..

Lisa Stocker, 37, was accused of involuntary manslaughter and contributing to the deprivation of a minor after her son Daniel was found at the bottom of the pool at their home in the 3800 block of Creighton Place in south Augusta.

At the bond hearing Friday, Assistant District Attorney John O’Neal said she was on 10 pre­scription drugs that morn­ing and stayed in bed most days.

“She went through a lot of pills in a short time,” O’Neal said.

Stocker’s attorney, John Kraft, said the family was waiting for Stocker’s release from jail before cremating the child’s body. He asked Superior Court Judge William Fleming to not pass judgment on the case and to just weigh the flight risk and minimal crim­inal background.

“She is extremely distraught today and dealing with bouts of de­pression,” Kraft said. “She’s lost her child, Your Honor.”

Fleming indicated early in the hearing that he was inclined to grant bond, but he called the child’s father, Jeff Stocker, and his neighbors to the bar to explain how the two older children, ages 10 and 12, would be cared for if Stocker were released.

“This is a bad situation for these two young boys,” Fleming said.

O’Neal said that Stocker had a history of prescription drug abuse and that at the time of the incident she was on several muscle relaxers. Her husband said she had anxiety disorders, and she told police she had agoraphobia, an avoidance of situations in which she might panic.

When Fleming questioned how she acquired so many prescriptions, O’Neal said that Stocker “had to shop around for some time to find a doctor who would treat her.”

The prosecutor said that on the day of the boy’s death, Stocker woke up at 5:30 a.m. and yelled from her bed at her two older sons to get ready for school. Those two children caught the school bus, but it wasn’t until 8:44 a.m. that she was awakened by a neighbor who had found her two dogs loose.

At that point, Stocker realized her 2-year-old was missing and a neighborhood search was launched by police and fire department members.

A neighbor’s surveillance cameras showed that Daniel had walked out the front door at 7:42 a.m., played in the front yard, then stepped out of view about 8 a.m.

The murky pool behind the child’s house was drained about 12:30 p.m., and his body was found at the bottom, O’Neal said.

Jeff Stocker said Friday that the Department of Fam­ily and Children Services won’t allow unsupervised contact between his wife and their two sons.

If she were to be released, he said, the boys would stay with a trusted neighbor after school and with him on the weekends.

Kraft disputed the state’s portrayal of Stocker as a drug addict.

“We don’t know what the exact facts are,” he said. “But these boys want their mother home.”

http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/crime-courts/2012-04-13/25000-bond-set-mother-augusta-2-year-old-who-drowned