A Fayette County foster mother no longer faces criminal charges in the death of a 2-year-old boy who fell into a swimming pool and drowned after wandering away from a church function.
Jacalyn Rita Mills, 60, of 110 Branthoover St., Washington Township, was charged by state police at Belle Vernon with endangering the welfare of children and reckless endangerment of another person in the June 8 death of Donovan Barksdale.
Donovan fell into a pool at 11 Hilltop Drive and drowned after he walked away, unnoticed, from a function at First Christian Church in Perry Township, said police.
After a preliminary hearing yesterday, District Judge Dwight Shaner of Smock dismissed the charges.
Mills' attorney, James M. Ecker of Pittsburgh, argued the drowning was a "tragic accident." District Attorney Nancy Vernon said she wanted the charges held for court because accidental or not, Mills was negligent for failing to watch the toddler.
The prosecuting officer, Trooper Craig Yauch, testified yesterday his investigation revealed Donovan was last seen alive outside the church with approximately eight other children ranging in age from 2 to 13. He testified Mills told him she had a 9-year-old boy watch Donovan while adults were inside the church preparing a meal.
Yauch testified Donovan traveled some 310 feet from the church to the pool, walked down a set of five steps, slipped under a wooden railing and fell into the water.
Adults did not notice his absence until they went to serve meals to the children;.
They found him in the pool during a subsequent search.
One of Mills' daughters, Genalyn Mills of Homestead, testified some 100 adults were at the church that day for an annual "preach-a-thon" involving 12 churches. In contrast to the trooper's testimony, she testified that none of the children were outside because temperatures in the 90s made it too hot for them to play outdoors.
She testified her mother advised the 9-year-old to watch Donovan so that he did not go into a men's room. She said the older child was not given the responsibility of watching Donovan in lieu of adult supervision.
Genalyn Mills testified Donovan's absence was noticed shortly after he and other children were placed on benches to await their lunches.
"Someone said, 'Where's Donovan, we're going to make him his plate,' " Genalyn Mills said. "That's when we realized he wasn't in the same area as the other children."
Genalyn Mills said family members who went to the hospital were distraught after learning that Donovan, who according to Yauch had been in Jacalyn Mills' care since the age of four months, had died.
"We couldn't believe that happened," Genalyn Mills testified. "We couldn't believe we were losing Donovan. We all loved him very much."
Another of Jacalyn Mills' daughters, Amy Robertson of Braddock, testified that Yauch told her mother that he felt the drowning was accidental.
"He said he knew it was an accident," Robertson said. "He said nobody was in trouble. He said he understood the devastation."
Ecker wanted Yauch to testify whether he had advised Jacalyn Mills, after the charges were filed, that he was forced to do so against his own judgment.
"Did you not tell her, that as far as you were concerned, it was nothing more than an accident, that you don't want to push this forward, and that you were told to do this?" Ecker said.
Shaner would not allow Yauch to respond after Vernon objected. Vernon said prosecutors, not police officers, make the final decision on whether to file charges.
Mills declined comment after the hearing. Ecker said Mills "has been upset and in tears" ever since the child's death.
Vernon yesterday said she will not refile the charges.
"I feel we exercised what we had to do because there was a death of a child," Vernon said. "The judge felt there was no responsibility. I still feel every parent has a duty to watch a 2-year-old and not to let 2-year-olds wander away."
