PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A 38-year-old nanny has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter for letting the three-year-old boy she was caring for wander off and drown in a retention pond at a park in Chester County.
On Labor Day of 2024, Imani Lewis called 911 from Wilson Farm Park in Tredyffrin Township, saying the three-year-old boy she was caring for was missing, was non-verbal, and she didn’t know where else he could be.
Within 10 minutes, police say they found the boy in a retention pond about 100 yards from the playset the boy was on. Lifesaving efforts were unsuccessful.
Lewis pleaded guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 11.5-to-23 months in Chester County. She had served 188 days since her arrest and was immediately paroled.
Chester County DA Christopher de Barrena-Sarobe says Lewis immediately took responsibility for her actions.
“She was sentenced today along the lines of the wishes of the family,” he said. It's just a sad and tragic case because no family should have to lose a child due to a distracted caretaker. It's just awful.”
Lewis was in the country on an expired student visa and will be deported to her home country of Jamaica.
At Lewis’ sentencing hearing, prosecutors read part of a letter from the parents of the boy who died, saying they do not blame Lewis and are in full support of her release as they try to pick up the pieces of their lives and move forward.