A mother in Brazil has been charged with a crime because she is said to have left her 1-year-old foster daughter in a bathtub alone.
Nova Bryant, the little girl, died at Riley Hospital for Children on June 16.
Nova’s cause of death was found to be drowning by the coroner.
It is a level 1 felony for the girl’s foster mother, Hailynn Volpatti, to neglect a dependent person and cause death.
The toddler was not responding when Volpatti found him in a bathtub full of water on May 21. He called the police to his home in Brazil.
Officers who arrived at the scene said Volpatti put Nova in the bathtub with her two 4-year-old sons while she went to get a drink.
Court documents say that when she came back, Nova was floating on her back in the bathwater with only a small part of her nose above the water.
In a later interview with police, Volpatti admitted that she had not been completely honest with the first officers who came to the house.
The first version of Volpatti’s story was that she had been on the phone with a friend the whole time the kids were in the bathtub. This went on for 1.5 hours, from 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., which is when court documents say she found Nova unconscious in the bathtub.
According to court documents, she admitted that she had left all three of her kids alone in the bathtub with water until she heard one of her sons yell for her.
Nova had been living with Hailynn and Tre Volpatti since October 2023, according to records.
Tre Volpatti was not charged because he was working the night of the crime.
Nova had many health issues, such as a long-term feeding disorder, being born early, being short, and having an uneven spine.
In court documents, it was written that Nova could pull herself up to a standing position but could only stay standing for a short time. “She did not have much to say.”
Nova Bryant was on machine that kept her alive for a few weeks before she died.
The Indiana Department of Child Services has been contacted by WRTV Investigates for a comment.
The WRTV Investigates team is trying to get in touch with Volpatti to get his opinion.
She does not have a lawyer listed, and her first hearing is set for October 25 at 9:30 am in Clay County.
As the years turned from 2023 to 2024, the Indiana Department of Child Services released its report on deaths in 2022.
During the year 2022, DCS looked into the deaths of 308 children. There were 61 deaths that were linked to abuse or neglect.
