Inset: Angel Deras-Rivas (Wake County Jail). Background: Apartment complex in the 700 block of Cooperline Drive in Garner, N.C., where a 1-year-old drowned in a bathtub (Google Maps).
Cops in North Carolina say a man left his 1-year-old stepson alone in the bathtub, leading to the child's drowning.
Angel Deras-Rivas, 19, is charged with second-degree murder and negligent child abuse with great bodily harm. According to an arrest warrant, the incident occurred on Sunday at an apartment complex in the 700 block of Cooperline Drive in Garner, which is just outside Raleigh.
Deras-Rivas was the sole person responsible for the 14-month-old when he left the child unattended in a "bathtub full of water." Authorities allege the defendant showed a "reckless disregard for human life by committing a grossly negligent omission." The child, who has not been identified, was later pronounced dead.
He is married to the child's mother, per cops.
"The omission resulted in serious bodily harm [and the] death to the child," the warrant said.
Cops also allege that Deras-Rivas "unlawfully, willfully, and feloniously did of malice aforethought kill and murder" the child. The defendant faces life in prison if convicted of the crime as charged.
Details such as how long the child was left alone and what Deras-Rivas was allegedly doing at the time of the drowning have not been released. Garner police did not immediately return an email from Law&Crime seeking comment.
Officers arrested Deras-Rivas and took him to the Wake County Jail, where he remains without bond. Authorities have also placed an immigration hold on him.
During a court hearing on Monday afternoon, a judge appointed him a public defender.
The defendant's next court date is set for Aug. 24.
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