Foster mother charged in death
BELLE VERNON — Fayette County prosecutors are accusing a foster mother of not supervising a toddler who wandered away from a church picnic and drowned in a pool.
Police say Jacalyn Mills of Belle Vernon left 2-year-old Donovan Barksdale in the care of a 9-year-old at a June 8 picnic at First Christian Church in Perry Township.
Authorities say when the adults went to eat, the 9-year-old forgot he was supposed to watch the toddler.
Authorities say the toddler wandered away from the picnic, climbed on to a deck and into a pool about 100 yards away.
The 59-year-old Mills is charged with child endangerment and reckless endangerment. A message left for Mills at her home was not immediately returned Monday evening.
