Child Drowning Death: Back Door Left Unlocked, Cartersville Police Say

CARTERSVILLE, GA -- The Cartersville Police Department continues to investigate the drowning death of a female toddler over the Memorial Day weekend.

The agency, along with the Cartersville Fire Department and Bartow EMS units, responded around 12:48 p.m. May 27 to a possible drowning call at a home in the 400 block of Waterford Drive.

CRP was initiated by family members and once emergency personnel arrived on the scene, they continued to perform the maneuver on the child who was found unresponsive inside a private pool in the backyard of the home, Bartow EMS spokesperson Brad Cothran previously told Patch.

They continued to perform those life-saving measures, but the child was later pronounced dead.

"Through (the) investigation, it was determined the rear door to the residence was left unlocked during the morning hours," Cartersville police said Tuesday, adding the child was last seen around 11 a.m. inside the home.

The investigation remains active, Cartersville police note. The release of this latest information follows the arrest of a Cartersville woman in connection to the drowning of one of her children Monday afternoon.

Bartow County sheriff's deputies were dispatched around 1:33 p.m. May 29 to a 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 Bobbie Jessica Prather, 32, was arrested just after 6 p.m. Monday and charged with one count of felony murder and four counts of cruelty to children in the first degree.

Prather's three other children inside the home were taken into protective custody, and the case remains under investigation in conjunction with the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services.

Image via Patch