An American woman and her husband have been arrested and charged in the drowning death of a 2-year-old boy who was repeatedly thrown into a pool while trying to teach him to swim. according to PeopleThe boy died in June 2024 due to prolonged lack of oxygen to the brain. Anastasia Atkins, 24, and Dakota Shawn Hayes, 29, were arrested Monday in connection with the child’s death. He is charged with first-degree murder, according to an arrest warrant obtained by Shop.
Hayes, the 2-year-old’s stepfather, is also charged with endangering the welfare of a child, while Atkins is accused of permitting the abuse of a minor, the outlet reports.
The boy died on June 17, 2024, three days after the couple called 911 after finding him unresponsive after swimming in the pool at his aunt’s home. At the time deputies arrived at the family’s home, the little boy’s body was cold, his “eyes were glued shut” and his arms were stuck straight, locked in place.
According to the affidavit, Atkins allegedly said her heart and breathing had stopped, and she drank water when he began pushing on her chest. Hayes, on the other hand, told police that he was teaching the boy to swim along with another 4-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl. “The three kids would hang onto his chest and he would grab their noses and sink to the bottom with them, sit there and come back up to the surface,” he said. New York Post,
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However, the 4-year-old boy told authorities that the boy almost drowned as a result of Hayes throwing him into the pool. He said Hayes and Atkins would physically punish him by hitting him on the head, knees and feet with a stick. The 6-year-old girl separately told detectives that Hayes pushed her stepson underwater when he did not want to swim. She said Hayes repeatedly threw the boy into the pool and she often “had to pull him out of the bottom.”
The autopsy of the 2-year-old child also found that he had suffered “multiple traumatic injuries” to the head, face and torso, which apparently occurred over a long period of time. According to the outlet, Atkins also “expressed concerns” to deputies about Hayes’ alleged aggressive behavior with her son in the past.
Hayes is currently being held in the Crawford County Jail on $1 million bond. Atkins, on the other hand, is being held on a $750,000 bond.
