New details emerge on 1-year-old’s death, mom’s arrest
WAYNESBORO, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - The Burke County Sheriff’s Office released new details Tuesday about the death of a 1-year-old girl.
Addlyn Stevens, died Monday after she was found in a water-filled hole in Burke County. According to authorities, she was found face-up and unresponsive.
Deputies were sent at 12:45 p.m. to the 600 block of Winter Road, where they found R was being performed on the girl.
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She was immediately taken to Burke Health, where medical personnel tried to save her life.
She did not survive.
“Preliminary information provided to deputies was that the child was left unattended for some time and while unattended the child fell into a hole that had been dug in the back yard of the Winter Road address,” the Burke County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday in a statement.
The hole was full of water and was about 3 to 4 feet deep, deputies said.
Addlyn’s family says they’re her as a happy child.
“She was thriving, she was happy. She was joyful. She was a light to anybody who met her,” said Rachel Lesesne, Addlyn’s aunt.
The child was in the care of her mother, 34-year-old Alisha Stevens, of Sylvania, at the time of the incident, deputies said.
“When I found out that she had actually ed, I fell to my knees and hit the concrete in my driveway,” said Lesesne.
The mother was arrested and charged with one count of murder in the second degree, according to the Burke County Sheriff’s Office.
The arrest warrant states that the mother, with criminal negligence, ”caused the death of her daughter by not watching her when the child “ran around the property.”
According to the arrest warrant, the mother was grilling at the time.
Sheriff’s Col. Jimmy Wylds said he could not comment on the specifics of the active investigation, but “I can tell you that we are awaiting autopsy results as well as toxicology reports.”
After such a great loss, the family says they are focusing on how to move forward.
“She was the light in a dark time for our family,” said Lesesne. “It’s hard for her not to be here.”
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