SPOKANE, Wash. — An 8-year-old girl with special needs was found unresponsive in a bathtub in Spokane on Sunday, and her mother was arrested for manslaughter and abandoning a dependent person.
Police were called to the home on East Baldwin Avenue by someone who said water was leaking into their apartment from above.
When firefighters and AMR arrived, they broke in through a window and found a child floating an an overflowing bathtub.
According to a probable cause affidavit, police say Travionna Christine Johnson, 23, left early Sunday to go to work and left her daughter at home. The child reportedly had epilepsy, was developmentally delayed and non-verbal.
She was a second grader at Logan Elementary School.
Johnson told police she left for work before 7 a.m. and texted her sister to see if she could take care of the girl. Johnson told investigators she did not receive a text back confirming her daughter would be looked after.
The girl’s aunt said her sister Travionna was very caring for her daughter and always scheduled care or babysitting for her daughter days in advance. She didn’t have any concerns for the girl’s care or well-being with her mother, Travionna. But she also said the girl was not capable of being left alone for even a few minutes.
A licensed home care aid had visited the home on Saturday for more than three hours and documented her visit with the girl, noting the child liked to turn on the faucet in the bathroom.
Detectives wrote in the report that Johnson initially displayed no emotion towards her daughter and didn’t ask for any status updates when she was interviewed.
They also say she wailed out loud and hid her face when she was told her daughter was dead, but investigators noted she did not shed any tears.
When asked why she deviated from her usual practice of ensuring care was available for the girl, Johnson responded “I don’t know how to answer that.”
She also told investigators she struggled to find in-home care for her daughter because the hours were reduced from 120 hours a month to 68 when the girl was back in school.
Detectives say Johnson later wrote a statement explaining why she left her daughter alone but didn’t fully explain her reasoning, and instead indicated “she was sorry for doing so and that she feels heartbroken and dumb and she will never be at peace with her decision.”
Johnson’s sister told detectives Travionna battled depression and previously had suicidal thoughts.
Travionna Johnson faces charges of first and second degree manslaughter and abandonment of a dependent person. Her bail was set at $500,000.
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