Mom On Facebook As Baby Drowned In Tub Convicted

SOLANO COUNTY, CA – A Solano County Superior Court jury convicted a Vallejo woman Thursday of felony child endangerment that caused the death of her unattended seven-month-old child in a bathtub in 2015, the Solano County District Attorney's Office said.

Erin Elizabeth Hallock also was convicted of felony identity theft and misdemeanor possession of methamphetamine.

Hallock left the infant in an adult-size bathtub with the water running while she was on Facebook on a computer in another room on March 10, 2015, the District Attorney's Office said.

First responders from the Vallejo Fire Department estimated the infant was without oxygen for eight to 10 minutes, and a forensic exam of Hallock's computer and the timing of a 911 call established the baby was
alone in the tub for at least eight minutes, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Hallock had signs of being under the influence of methamphetamine when police arrived, the District Attorney's Office said. The infant, who was unable to breathe unassisted, was taken to Kaiser Permanente Vallejo Medical Center in critical condition. The baby was then taken to Kaiser Permamente's Roseville pediatric intensive care unit and was taken off life support on March 14.

Instead of going to the hospital to check the child's welfare, Hallock refused to leave her home when police officers showed her a warrant to search her home, the District Attorney's Office said. Officers searched
her home when they determined Hallock was on felony probation with a clause permitting a search and seizure, the District Attorney's Office said.

The officers found 11 inches of water in the bathtub and a 40-pound, waterlogged child's bathing seat made of cloth that sank in the water, the District Attorney's Office said.

Officers also found credit cards, mail, forms of identifications, tax returns, other evidence of identity theft and two bindles of methamphetamine in the house, the District Attorney's Office said.

Hallock will be sentenced on Nov.14.

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