ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 Orlando police say a woman failed to act for more than 5 minutes as a child in her care was drowning. <\/p>\n
That woman, Sukanthini Subbiah, 48, is now facing an aggravated manslaughter charge for the 7-year-old\u2019s death. <\/p>\n
Police initially believed this was an accident, but now say evidence shows Subbiah was \u201cculpably negligent.\u201d<\/p>\n
The drowning happened on April 10th at the Everbe Clubhouse pool. <\/p>\n
According to the arrest report, Subbiah is a physician who lives in Louisiana. Investigators said she was staying in the Everbe community with family at the time of the incident.<\/p>\n
During that stay, she told investigators her son played with the neighboring 7-year-old twins.<\/p>\n
According to investigators, on the day of the drowning, Subbiah was given permission by the twins\u2019 mother to take the kids on a play date at the pool. <\/p>\n
Investigators said surveillance video shows the children entering the pool at 6:19 pm. By 6:20 pm, investigators said the 7-year-old boy in Subbiah\u2019s care was seen drowning.<\/p>\n
According to investigators, the child wasn\u2019t pulled out of the water for more than 7 minutes. Police said during that time, Subbiah watched the drowning happen, sent the other 7-year-olds to retrieve him, and failed to personally intervene.<\/p>\n
Investigators said the decision to \u201crely upon other seven-year-old children to attempt a rescue constituted a course of conduct demonstrating a gross and flagrant disregard for the decedent\u2019s safety.\u201d <\/p>\n
According to investigators, the incident was \u201cmore than an unfortunate accidental drowning.\u201d Investigators stated that Subbiah was the sole adult responsible for the decedent at the time of the emergency and, as a doctor, had the knowledge to recognize the danger and intervene. <\/p>\n
\u201cHer failure to do so allowed the decedent\u2019s submersion and oxygen deprivation to continue until another adult ultimately performed the rescue she had failed to undertake,\u201d investigators said. <\/p>\n
Subbiah was booked into the Orange County Jail on Monday. Her defense attorney, Rajan Joshi, said she voluntarily turned herself in, has cooperated with investigators, and plans on fighting the charges.<\/p>\n
\u201cAccidents do happen every day. We don\u2019t see criminal liability in this case,\u201d said Joshi.<\/p>\n
Joshi declined to comment on the timeline or the specific facts presented by investigators for the time being, but said this was a true tragedy. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a person who\u2019s dedicated her life to saving people\u2019s lives, has a good heart, and never had any problems with the law,\u201d said Joshi, \u201cShe plans on fighting these charges in court.\u201d <\/p>\n
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