A Georgia mother has been charged with the murder of her toddler daughter after the child’s body was recovered from a pond in an office park Thursday.
Sandy Springs police issued an alert for 22-month-old Nirvana Oliver Thursday night after they were called to a parking deck at the office park for a woman acting oddly.
According to WSB-TV, Sgt. Matt McGinnis with the Sandy Springs Police Department said she was having “some type of breakdown.”
The woman was later identified as Asia Lewis.
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“They live in the area, the father showed up … found her there with us and asked where the child is,” McGinnis said. “She responded with something like, ‘she’s in the bottom of the pool.’ We don’t think it’s an accidental at this time.”
Police and firefighters searched the pond and found the little girl hours later. She was taken to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite, where she died.
Lewis was arrested and charged with murder and cruelty to children.
An arrest warrant says that security video shows Lewis walking the little girl toward the pond, one of several in the office complex, then going off camera for six minutes before Calabrese-Lewis calmly walking back into the frame with no clothes on.
The Georgia Division of Family and Children’s Services told WXIA that they had gotten “a report alleging suspected abuse/neglect of Nirvana” on Wednesday and had attempted a home visit earlier on Thursday. They provided a statement calling the loss “devastating” but nothing further about their investigation.
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McGinnis said the medical examiner has not yet determined how the girl died, WSB-TV said.
“Whether it’s an actual drowning or something else, we will have to wait on that from the ME to determine exactly what went on there,” McGiniss said.
Family members told the station Nirvana was well loved and well taken care of, including by her mother.
Lewis had been expected to appear in court Thursday morning, but the appearance was postponed. She is being held without bond.
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