Father Charged with Manslaughter After 11-Month-Old Son Was Allegedly Left Unattended and Drowned in Bathtub

An Arkansas man is facing a manslaughter charge after authorities say his 11-month-old son was left alone in a bathtub and later died.

According to court records obtained by local news outlets KAIT and the Jonesboro Sun, 31-year-old James Dawson was arrested by the Poinsett County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday, Feb. 3 — about four months after the child was hospitalized and later died following a drowning incident.

Dawson has been charged with manslaughter and first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor, the outlets reported. He was released from jail less than an hour after his arrest.

A probable cause affidavit cited by the outlets says investigators and first responders from the Lepanto Police Department and Lepanto Fire Department were called to Dawson’s home on Oct. 2 after a report of an unresponsive infant who had drowned.

The boy’s parents attempted CPR at the house before the baby was taken to a hospital, where he died the next day, according to the affidavit.

Investigators interviewed Dawson and the baby’s mother, who reportedly said she left the home to feed a dog at her father’s house and returned about 20 minutes later.

When she came back, she said Dawson and two other children were there and asked her to make something to eat. A short time later, she heard water running in the bathroom and asked Dawson why the faucet was on.

Deputies wrote in the affidavit that, according to the mother, Dawson had put the baby in the bathroom to bathe him, placed the plug in the tub, and turned on the water.

The affidavit states the mother said Dawson left the room because the two other children were arguing, screaming, and crying. After she heard the water still running and questioned him again, she said Dawson responded, “Oh, my God, the baby’s in there.”

The mother told authorities she ran to the bathroom and found the baby face down and limp in the tub. Investigators said Dawson began CPR while she called 911.

Dawson told investigators, according to the affidavit, that it had “slipped” his mind that the baby was in the bathtub. He said he became distracted when the other children started arguing about dinner and his wife returned home “probably a minute later.”

The mother also told investigators that when she and Dawson stepped out of the bathroom, he repeatedly said, “It’s all my fault,” and that he “forgot,” according to the affidavit.

The Poinsett County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division later executed a search warrant at the home. Investigators said a recliner where Dawson was sitting at the time of the incident was located on the opposite side of the house from the bathtub.

Ring doorbell camera footage from the night of the incident showed Dawson arrived home at 6:46 p.m., his wife left at 6:52 p.m., and she returned at 7:22 p.m., KAIT reported.