Baby sitter faces felony charge for boy’s death: St. Clair indicted for child neglect in drowning death
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The suspect, Tonya St. Clair, 29, has been indicted on the charge of felony child neglect which carries two to four years in prison.
Her indictment comes following an investigation by McMinnville Police Department into the accidental drowning of Damion Christopher Bouldin on March 4.
The child drowned after he and another child wandered from St. Clair’s Cope Street apartment where the baby sitter was caring for the boys along with two other children. The boy’s parents had left him in the charge of St. Clair earlier in the day.
According to police reports, the two boys made their way past Rocket playground and onto a boat ramp located a few yards beyond the playground on the banks of the Barren Fork River. At some point, Bouldin apparently fell into the river and was washed away by the current despite attempts to grab onto foliage along the banks.
Bouldin’s body was recovered minutes later but attempts to revive the child were fruitless.
According to McMinnville Police Investigator Lt. Derwin Adcock, the case was taken to the grand jury after investigators questioned neighbors and looked closely into the care St. Clair provided for the children in her charge. The baby sitter told lawmen investigating the case that the boys had slipped off while she was caring for other children at her residence. Adcock said the findings of the investigation were presented to grand jurors for them to decide if criminal charges were warranted.
Bouldin was the son of Angela Bouldin and Phillip Haston. He was one of three children pulled from an apartment fire by police and a bystander just three months before his drowning.