A Philadelphia foster mother is facing a murder charge nearly nine months after a 20-month-old boy drowned in her bathtub in a case that has sparked outrage from the child’s biological family.
Apalosnia Watson, 39, has been charged with third-degree murder and endangering the welfare of a child in the death of Sy’vir Hill, court records show, according to CBS News.
The charges stem from an alleged incident on April 15 last year inside Watson’s home on the 900 block of East Schiller Street in the city’s Harrowgate neighborhood.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Watson was caring for Sy’vir and two other young children – ages 4 and 2 – when she left them in the bath unattended while she went downstairs to heat up food in the microwave.
On her way to the kitchen, she reportedly heard “flipping in the water,” she later told police. When she returned, Sy’vir was facedown in the tub.
Watson attempted CPR and called 911. Paramedics arrived and attempted life-saving measures, but Sy’vir was pronounced dead at the scene.
A responding officer described Watson as visibly upset, screaming and crying, and repeatedly stating, “I don’t want to go to jail.”
Despite the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office having conducted a postmortem exam the following day, the child’s cause and manner of death remained pending for nine months.
Sy’vir’s biological mother Sharee Collins and her attorney say the delay was unacceptable.
“If there’s a case that we should prioritize in our society, it’s the death of a 1-year-old child. I felt that it was not being prioritized,” said A.J. Thomson, who represents Collins in a wrongful-death lawsuit.
Collins previously told CBS News Philadelphia she trusted her son would be safe in foster care.
“He didn’t deserve that, he didn’t,” she said “I wouldn’t wish it on nobody else.”
At the time of the boy’s death, there were several other children living in the home, including the 4-year-old and 2-year-old who were also in the bathtub, Hill’s 4-month-old sister, and a 17-year-old, according to a police report.
Collins filed a civil lawsuit in October against Tabor Children’s Services and Northeast Treatment Centers, accusing them of placing her son in an overcrowded home. Her attorney said documents showed Watson had four foster children under the age of five in addition to other child relatives in the home and was “at her max.”
Thomson also questioned Watson’s decision to leave the children unattended.
“What food was that important that you would leave three kids that age in the tub by themselves?” he said.
The Philadelphia Department of Human Services called Sy’vir’s death a tragic loss and said he had been receiving foster care services through Tabor and case management through Northeast Treatment Community Care, CBS News reported.
The months-long gap prompted Thomson to file a second lawsuit in November, asking a Philadelphia Common Pleas Court judge to compel the medical examiner to make a ruling.
A spokesperson for the medical examiner’s office said investigations vary in length depending on multiple factors and that, “Above all, our priority is to conduct thorough and accurate investigations.”
The judge ordered the medical examiner certify the cause and manner of death within 10 days. On December 4, the office ruled that the cause of death was drowning and the manner of death was homicide.
Watson was arrested on January 13. Her attorney S. Philip Steinberg told CBS News Philadelphia that she “is devastated by the tragic, accidental death of Sy’vir Hill. Nonetheless, she has not committed a crime.”
Watson is set to appear in court on March 4.
