An Etna woman was arrested Thursday in the drowning death last summer of her 1-year-old son.
Brittany Garrison, 28, took the boy, Leo, and a sibling to swim in an aboveground pool in her backyard on Sycamore Street around 3 p.m. on July 27, 2023, Allegheny County Police said.
Garrison put her son in the pool without a life jacket, but in what police described as a red-and-yellow, two-seat “float.”
Then, police said, she left him unattended as she went inside with the sibling.
A short time later, Leo was found in the pool, unresponsive, and off the float, according to police.
First responders performed lifesaving measures and rushed the child to the hospital in critical condition.
He died there 14 days later, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The medical examiner said on Dec. 18, 2023 that drowning was cause of death. The manner of death was deemed an accident.
On Tuesday, police charged Garrison with involuntary manslaughter, endangering the welfare of children and recklessly endangering another person.
Police took her into custody Thursday morning. She was arraigned and released on nonmonetary bond. Her preliminary hearing is April 10.
