Ulster County mother indicted in bathtub drowning of infant daughter

Kayla Pagan, 26, faces a charge of felony criminally negligent homicide and misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child.

According to the State Police investigation, the drowning occurred in the evening of July 8 when Pagan left her daughter, Lilliana, in a bathtub with water running in her 8 Hideaway Lane home.  The child’s father returned home from work to find his daughter in the bathtub with the water still running. He removed the child, started CPR and called 911.

The baby was rushed by to St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital in Newburgh where she was pronounced dead.

By indicting Pagan with criminally negligent homicide, the grand jury determined there was sufficient proof that Pagan’s conduct constituted a gross deviation from the standard care that a reasonable person would observe, said District Attorney Holley Carnright.

“It’s just hard to imagine that anyone would do this; although we see cases throughout the country where people leave their kids in the car,” the DA said. Carnright recounted one case where a father left his child in his car when he went to work and his explanation was he forgot to drop him off at the sitter.

Pagan remains in the Ulster County Jail without bail.

The case was investigated by the State Police Highland barracks.