8-Week-Old Baby Drowns In Bathtub; Mother Charged With Murder

A woman in Sydney has been charged with murder in connection with the death of her 8-week-old daughter who drowned in a bathtub.

The infant's father came home Tuesday and found the girl lying unresponsive in the bathtub. When he came out, he noticed the girl's mother standing outside the home in a distressed state.

Emergency services were called to the home and the infant was rushed to The Children's Hospital at Westmead. But she died a short time later.

Investigators said the infant might have been in the bathtub for as long as two hours before she was found by her father.

The 35-year-old mother, whose identity was not revealed, was taken into police custody and was transferred to Westmead Hospital medical checkup. She was facing murder charges and was refused bail during a court hearing Wednesday. Her next appearance in the Mount Druitt Local Court is scheduled for March 31.

A family friend said the infant was "bubbly, adorable" and always had a smile on her face.

"She was bubbly, she was smiling, she was always laughing, she was an adorable little one," a neighbor told local media.

The incident comes months after a woman in Missouri was arrested and charged in connection with the drowning death of her newborn baby. Makuya Kambamba gave birth to the baby in the toilet. She then saw the baby, that was face down in the water, moving. The woman sat back on the toilet and did not check on the newborn for close to 30 minutes. An autopsy revealed that the baby died due to drowning. The woman was taken into custody and charged with first-degree and second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and abuse or neglect of a child resulting in death.