JOSEPH JOHNSON - 13 Months (2010) - Fort Lupton (NE of Denver) CO

A 13-month-old Fort Lupton baby found unconscious in a bathtub Monday morning has been airlifted to The Children's Hospital in Aurora, authorities said.The baby boy's precise condition was not known, but he was still unconscious when transported to the medical helicopter, Fort Lupton Fire Chief Phil Tiffany said.His mother had called 911, saying she found her son face down in a partially filled bath tub.
"I know it's real serious," Fort Lupton Police Chief Leo Carrillo said of the child's condition. "We haven't heard back from the hospital yet."Fortunately, Tiffany said, fire and police had responded to an earlier call where a person had fallen two doors down in the 100 block of 2nd Street when the call on a possible drowning came in at 8:58 a.m. Monday."We were so close, the ambulance was almost parked in front of the residence" where the near-drowning occurred, the chief said."A police officer came out with the child and we started CPR literally within seconds of getting the call," Tiffany said. "Starting early CPR is critical in these kinds of cases."Carrillo said the baby's mother was home at the time of the accident, but it's unclear how closely she was supervising the child.Weld County sheriff's detectives are taking the lead in the investigation because they have more experience with such cases, the police chief said.

Poster's Note:

it's unclear how closely she was supervising the child

Oh, I think I have an answer for that one, she wasn't!

Baby dies in drowning in Fort Lupton

A 13-month-old baby found face-down in a bathtub on Monday morning in Fort Lupton was revived by paramedics, but later died.

The unidentified baby was taken by helicopter to Children's Hospital in Denver. He was pronounced dead at 4:30 p.m., said George Roosevelt, with the Weld County Coroner's office.

An autopsy is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday.

According to Weld sheriff's spokesman Shane Scofield, Weld County dispatch received a call at 8:57 a.m. Monday from a woman who said her son was not breathing at her home in the 100 block of 2nd Street in Fort Lupton.

Both Fort Lupton police and sheriff's deputies responded to the call and arrived within 60 seconds, according to Scofield. The Weld sheriff's office is handling the investigation and no decision has been made about possible charges to be filed.

Police: Mom Was On Facebook When Child Drowned

Mother Said She Was Playing Cafe World

POSTED: 12:38 pm MST January 13, 2011FORT LUPTON, Colo. -- A Front Range mother is scheduled to be arraigned Friday in the death of her 13-month-old son last September.According to KMGH-TV, Shannon Johnson, 34, admitted to police she was on Facebook playing Cafe World, checking on a friend's status and sharing videos in
the living room, while her son was in the bathtub, according to an
arrest affidavit obtained Thursday.Johnson told police her son
was playing in the bathtub for about 10 minutes and she checked on him
once. Johnson said that about three more minutes went by and she didn't
hear her son playing, so she went to check on the baby and saw him
sideways with his face in the water, according to the arrest affidavit.Johnson told police she grabbed the boy out of the water and she heard some gurgling.An
ambulance took the boy to a nearby fire station where he was airlifted
to Children's Hospital. He was pronounced dead at 4:30 p.m.When
the detective asked Johnson why she would leave a 13-month-old in the
bathtub alone, Johnson said he really wanted to be left alone and he was
a very independent baby, according to the arrest affidavit. In the
affidavit, Johnson also said she didn't want her son to be known as a
"mamma's boy."She told detectives that she knew what it was like to be told no and she didn't want her baby to be told no.
Johnson told police she gave the baby a bath everyday, sometimes twice a day.
She said on the day the baby died, the water level may have been a
little higher than usual.Johnson told police her son had a
seizure at his grandmother's house a month earlier. She was given
anti-seizure medicine to give the boy if he was having a seizure.
Johnson said doctors did not diagnose what caused the seizure and there
were no other seizures.The investigation into the boy's death was
delayed while investigators waited for the final autopsy report. That
report came back Jan. 3. It said the baby died of anoxic brain injury,
cardiac arrest and drowning, according to the arrest affidavit. Johnson was arrested Tuesday.

http://www.kjct8.com/news/26483711/detail.html

Never heard of anything so stupid. Moving to murdered. If it's not an unavoidable accident that's where it belongs IMO.

FORT LUPTON, Colo. (Reuters) - A mother who told police her
13-month-old son drowned in the bathtub while she was playing a game on
Facebook has been arrested on suspicion of child abuse resulting in
death, authorities said on Friday
Shannon Johnson, 34, is being held on
a $100,000 bond, Jennifer Finch, spokeswoman for the Weld County
District Attorney's Office, told Reuters.
When police responded to Johnson's
home after the boy died at a Denver-area hospital last September,
Johnson said she frequently let the boy bathe alone because he was
"independent" and she "didn't want him to be known as a mama's boy,"
according to an affidavit filed with the arrest warrant.
Johnson said she was on Facebook playing a game and checking in with friends, police said.
When she didn't hear any sounds from
the boy after several minutes she checked on the boy and found him
slumped over in the bath tub.

Fort Lupton mom takes plea deal in child’s bathtub drowning death

The Fort Lupton mother whose 13-month-old son drowned in a bathtub last fall while she spent time on Facebook pleaded guilty Friday to a charge that could potentially keep her out of prison.

Shannon Johnson, 34, pleaded guilty to child abuse, negligently causing the death of her son, Joseph. She was originally charged with child abuse, “knowingly or recklessly” causing death, which would have required a mandatory prison sentence with a range of 16-48 years had she been convicted.

The deal she took was for the negligence charge, which carries a sentencing range of four to 12 years in prison, but it also will make her eligible for probation or community corrections, whereby she could still live in the community.

Weld District Court Judge Thomas Quammen will not be bound by any sentencing agreement, as the attorneys agreed to leave it up to the judge in exchange for the plea.

“We’ll be arguing for prison time,” said Jennifer Finch, spokesperson for the Weld District Attorney.

Johnson will be sentenced at 10:30 a.m. April 15.

Johnson told Weld Sheriff’s investigators she was playing games on Facebook in September 2010 when Joseph drowned in the bathtub. She turned herself into the Weld County Jail in January after authorities issued a warrant for her arrest.

According to a court affidavit, Johnson had put her son in the tub for his bath around 8:35-8:45 a.m. Sept. 20, 2010. Johnson told deputies he had grown independent and wanted to be left alone in the tub. She said she was playing Café World on Facebook, sharing videos and checking on her friends’ status updates.

“She said for about 10 minutes, he was playing and she checked on him one time,” the affidavit stated. “Shannon said about three more minutes went by and she didn’t hear Joseph playing.”

She found him face down in the water; he was taken to Children’s Hospital in Aurora and was pronounced dead at 4:30 p.m.

http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20110311/NEWS/703119993/1005&parentprofile=1

A US woman who was playing a game on Facebook while her 13-month-old
son drowned in a bathtub has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Shannon Johnson, 34, of Fort Lupton, northern Colorado,
cried as District Judge Thomas Quammen told her he didn't think she was a
bad person or that she killed her son on purpose, the Greeley Tribune reported.
But, he added, that doesn't mean her action wasn't criminal.

"You left this little boy in a bathtub so you could
entertain yourself on the computer by playing games," Quammen said. "And
you left that 13-month-old human being, little Joseph, incredibly for
those reasons."

Johnson pleaded guilty in March to negligently causing
the death of her child. The charge carried a sentencing range of four to
12 years, but it also left open the possibility of alternative
sentencing, which means she might have avoided spending time behind
bars. Authorities rejected that option, saying they didn't want to play
down the seriousness of her crime.

According to court documents, Johnson put her son in the
tub for his bath a little after 8.30am on September 20. She then left
him unsupervised as she went to another room to share videos, check
status updates and play Cafe World on Facebook.

When she returned to the bathroom, she found Joseph sideways and face-down in the water.

Johnson called 911 to say Joseph wasn't breathing.
Paramedics were able to revive the toddler but he was pronounced dead at
a Denver hospital.

According to the affidavit, Johnson told police the boy "wanted to be left alone" and was a very "independent baby".

She also told police she knew what it was like to be told "no", and she did not want her baby to be told "no".

The affidavit says she also did not want him to be known as a "mama's boy".

Johnson told police she gave the boy a bath every day -
sometimes twice a day. She said that on the day Joseph died, the water
level might have been higher than usual.

Johnson told police she had been leaving Joseph in the bathtub alone for weeks.

Johnson also told authorities that her son had a seizure
at his grandmother's house a month earlier and had been given
anti-seizure medication in case it happened again. Doctors didn't
diagnose the cause of the seizure and there were no other occurrences,
Johnson said.

The investigation into the boy's death was delayed while
investigators waited for the final autopsy report. That report came back
on January 3. It said the baby died of anoxic brain injury, cardiac
arrest and drowning, according to the arrest affidavit. Johnson was arrested days later.

She was also sentenced to five years of mandatory parole following her incarceration.

Weld County Undersheriff Margie Martinez told KMGH-TV in
Denver that Johnson's mother said she had warned her daughter of the
danger of leaving the toddler unattended in water just days before he drowned.

"She told her she wouldn't do it anymore," Martinez said.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/mother-who-was-playing-facebook-game-while-son-drowned-in-bath-jailed-for-10-years-20110418-1dk54.html?from=smh_sb#ixzz1JqKoXX7o