Arizona woman pleads guilty in bathtub drowning of grandson

A Lake Havasu City, Arizona, woman has pleaded guilty to negligent homicide in the accidental bathtub drowning death of her young grandson.

Stephanie Rowland, 60, accepted a plea bargain on Feb. 28. Judge Billy Sipe is required to impose the 100-day jail sentence followed by probation when she is sentenced on April 7.

Mohave County prosecutor Jacob Cote told the court that Rowland was babysitting her two young grandsons last March and was interrupted by a carpet cleaner after placing the boys in a tub while running bathwater.

She didn’t check on them again for approximately 19 minutes as she toured the home with the serviceman. When she did, she found her 2-year-old grandson had climbed out of the tub, but his 13-month-old brother, Caleb Rowland-Bible, was in the water and not breathing.

Rowland, overcome with emotion, told the court she suffers from “short-term memory” issues and has no recollection of leaving the boys in the tub.

“I don’t ever remember leaving the children. … I don’t remember what happened,” she told Sipe. “This is not in my character, but I am guilty.”

Rowland also agreed to pay $2,754 in restitution.

The victim’s father, Mikael Bible, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Rowland in another division of Mohave County Superior Court. That civil case is still pending before Judge Derek Carlisle.