PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Philadelphia woman faces charges in the drowning death of her five-month-old daughter in a Lancaster County hotel.
Diontae Nicole Beckett, 25, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child.
Lancaster County officials announced the charges this week, though Beckett waived her preliminary hearing late last month.
It was on May 11, state police say, when Beckett drunkenly placed the child in a spa tub at a hotel on the 3600 block of East Newport Road in Leacock. Troopers said blood tests confirmed there was alcohol in her system at the time of the incident.
Beckett has denied putting the baby in the spa tub, but investigators said they found images of the girl in the tub on Beckett’s phone.
Troopers also said surveillance from inside the hotel showed Beckett carrying what appeared to be a lifeless child in her arms. They said hotel guests attempted to save the child’s life before first responders arrived.
Beckett is currently free on $100,000 bail.
