Drowning lands St. Clair in jail: Baby sitter ruled responsible for death of 4-year-old
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The baby sitter, Tonya St. Clair, was ordered by Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley Wednesday to serve 90 days of a three-year sentence, with the balance following the 90-day jail term to be served on probation. She must also perform 100 hours public service work and will not be allowed to supervise any child under 12 other than her own.
Her sentence comes after the accidental drowning of Damion Christopher Bouldin on March 4 of last year in the waters of the Barren Fork River. Prosecutors say St. Clair was supposed to be watching the child for his parents but allowed the boy to wander off from her residence with a 6-year-old.
Investigators believe the boy fell into the river from a small boat landing located near Rocket Park and was swept under and drowned.
Family members of St. Clair maintain the woman was overwhelmed caring for several children at once and often cared for the boy for days at a time because his parents would go off and not return. They also pointed out there were no fences to keep the children from wandering from a nearby playground to the river.
Bouldin had been pulled by police officers from a fire at his home in West Riverside just a couple of months before his drowning.