Idiocracy Personified: Dallas Woman “Caring” for Her Friend’s Daughter Illegally Lets 3-Year-Old Who Can’t Swim Go into Closed Pool, Ignores Her for 15 Minutes, and Checks Facebook and Plays with Her Pit Bull, While Child Drowns

 

Mug shot of Kariasa Thomas (Dallas Police Department)
 

Re-posted by Nicholas Stix

Thanks to reader-researcher RC for the sendalong.

Dallas woman arrested after her friend’s 3-year-old daughter drowns in her care
By Julie Fancher
jfancher@dallasnews.com
7:36 p.m. on August 6, 2013

A Dallas woman was arrested Friday in connection with the drowning death of her best friend’s 3-year-old daughter in June.

Kariasa Thomas, 37, was charged with reckless injury to a child after Kanyce Giddings drowned in a Red Bird apartment complex pool, while under Thomas’ care.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, on June 22 Thomas took her friend’s four children, who were 7, 6, 5 and 3, to go swimming at a pool at her apartment complex in the 8600 block of Old Hickory Trail.

Thomas also brought along her 16-year-old daughter and her husband, who is legally blind.
The affidavit states that when the group arrived at the pool close to 7 p.m. the pool was closed, but they decided to stay after seeing several other people still in the water.
Police said that even though Thomas was aware Kanyce could not swim, she still allowed her to get in the water.

The affidavit states that she told the child to stand on the steps with her feet inside the water, while the other children went swimming.

The child was not wearing any safety gear, according to the documents.

Thomas told detectives that she was sitting in a reclining chair just a few feet away from where the child was playing, but that instead of watching the child she logged onto Facebook on her phone.

The affidavit states that Thomas said she was on her phone for nearly 15 minutes while the children were playing.

She later told detectives that in addition to being on her phone, she was also playing with her pitbull, instead of watching the children.

At some point, an off duty Dallas Police officer, who lives at the apartment complex and was working security, came to tell the group the pool was closed.

When Thomas began to gather the children, according to the affidavit, she noticed she could not find the 3-year-old.

She asked the officer for a flashlight in order to search for her.

The affidavit states that when Thomas walked in the pool, she kicked the child’s lifeless body.

Thomas immediately gave the child to the off-duty officer who began performing CPR, while 911 was called.

The child was taken to Methodist Charlton Medical Center, where she died.

Thomas remains in a Dallas County Jail in lieu of $25,000 bond.