MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A South Florida mother is facing charges after her 7-month-old drowned in a bathtub.
On Friday, May 20 at 2:20 p.m., police arrived to 22-year-old Alyssa Carolyn Jimmie’s Southwest Miami-Dade home to find the baby unconscious.
Jimmie told police that she had left the baby in the tub with his 3-year-old brother with the water running. She left them alone while she went to the residence’s garage to do her nails in an at-home manicure salon. Police said the home salon is approximately 62-feet away from where the bathtub is located in the master bathroom of the home.
Jimmie told investigators that she felt comfortable leaving the children because there was no “drain plug,” which would allow the water to flow down the drain.
She said she returned after about 5 to 10 minutes and found the bathtub drain had been stopped up with a small face towel and that the bathtub had filled with water. She found the baby unconscious, she told police, and the brother still playing in the bathtub.
She told police she began CPR and then had to go to a next-door neighbor’s house to call 911 as her cell phone wasn’t working.
The child was transported to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital.
The Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner determined that the baby died from accidental drowning.
Jimmie is a member of the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida.
Cesar Jimmie, the woman’s father was in the courtroom Thursday as she faced a judge. He vouched for Jimmie’s character and that she’s always been a good daughter — “a good older sibling. She’s always loved her children.”
Miami Dade Circuit Court Judge Mindy Glazer said to Jimmie: “It is a very sad set of events. I’m sorry for your loss.” Glazer set a bond for Jimmie at $10,000 so she could make bond. “Make sure you stay in touch with your attorney and listen to what they tell you,” Glazer told Jimmie. She was charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child.
According to the arrest affidavit, the Chief of the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida contacted the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner’s Department and demanded that an autopsy not be performed on the baby. The Medical Examiner did, however, perform an autopsy on Tuesday, May 24.
Also, when police attempted to contact the woman for a follow-up interview, the father of the baby said that Jimmie was instructed by a member of the Tribe not to speak with law enforcement until an attorney had been retained by the tribe for her.
The Miccosukee Tribe of Florida is a federally recognized tribe and sovereign government.
A spokesperson from the Tribe’s chairman’s office told Local10.com: “That neither the chairman nor anyone in his administration contacted the ME’s office regarding the performance of their duties nor attempted to interfere in the investigation.”
To clarify, the Miccosukee Tribe spokesperson said he believed there was a miscommunication between “us and Miami-Dade County. We are working with the County to correct it,” he said.
There was an attorney in the courtroom representing the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida at the hearing on Thursday as well as attorneys representing the mother.