Mom Charged With Murder In Child's Drowning (UPDATED)

CARTERSVILLE, GA -- The Bartow County Sheriff's Office has charged a mother in connection to the drowning of her three-year-old child who was found inside a private pool Monday afternoon in Cartersville.

Bobbie Jessica Prather, 32, has been transported to the Bartow County Jail, and is charged with felony murder and four counts of cruelty to children in the first degree, the sheriff's office said Monday evening.

Sheriff's office investigators and units with the Bartow County Fire Department and EMS were all dispatched around 1:33 p.m. May 29 to the home on Canter Lane, which is located off Peeples Valley Road.

A sheriff's deputy who was first to arrive at the home recovered the male child, who was unconscious and not breathing, from the pool, Bartow EMS spokesperson Brad Cothran told Patch.

Unfortunately, paramedics "quickly realized the child had been in the water too long for resuscitation measures," Cothran added.

Sheriff's office spokesperson Sgt. Jonathan Rogers said Prather was taken into custody just after 6 p.m. Monday, and three other children inside the home were taken into protective custody.

The sheriff's office continues to investigate the drowning death with the help of the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services, Rogers added.

Monday's incident comes just two days after a female toddler was recovered from another private swimming pool on Waterford Drive in Cartersville. The 3-year-old girl was rushed to Cartersville Medical Center where she was pronounced dead. Cartersville police spokesperson Lt. Mike Bettikofer said that while that incident "appears to be a tragic accident," the investigation remains active.

Return to Patch for updates.

Photo: Bobbie Jessica Prather. Credit: Bartow County Sheriff's Office