By David Lohr
June 6, 2007
WATERFORD, PA (Crime Library) — Yesterday, a babysitter in Erie County, Pennsylvania, was charged in connection with the deaths of two children who drowned while in her care last week. Police alleged the sitter, 19-year-old Brittany N. Steward, had been drinking alcohol in the hours leading up to the two children's deaths.
On Monday, May 28, Steward placed an emergency call to 911 at 11:17 a.m. and requested an ambulance be dispatched to her residence at 12333 Sharp Road. Steward said she had been babysitting two children and was outside playing with them when she left to answer the telephone. She said when she returned, she found them floating in a fishpond, some 100 yards from the house.
When the paramedics arrived on the scene, there was nothing they could do for the children, who have been identified as Maggie Kovski, 2, and Jenna Walker, 20 months. Jenna was Steward's stepsister, and Maggie was a neighbor. Chris Barber, chief of Stancliff Hose Company, later described the scene to a reporter from the Erie Times-News.
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| Jenna Walker |
"The babysitter had the smallest child up toward the house," Barber said. "The other was still near the pond. She was performing CPR, and when I got there, I started CPR on the youngest one. They had no pulse. They were not breathing."
Both children were then transported by ambulance to Hamot Medical Center in Erie, where they were officially pronounced dead.
According to Barber, seeing the deceased children had a traumatic affect on everyone at the scene. Some of the firefighters have since spoken with counselors to help them deal with the incident. Others sought comfort from their own families.
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