COLORADO SPRINGS – A Colorado Springs woman who was charged after the drowning death of a 9-year-old girl at the Hotel Elegante has avoided a prison sentence.
In lieu of a prison sentence, 58-year-old Lynthia Washington was sentenced to two years in the custody of a community-based prison alternative.
Washington was sentenced Wednesday after previously pleading guilty to negligent homicide in the death of 9-year-old Yevaeh Patrick-Moon last December.
Washington had acknowledged that she allowed her granddaughter and Yevaeh to swim in the hotel pool unsupervised. Surveillance footage showed that the 9-year-old drowned within minutes of getting into the deep end of the pool. Her friend was in the hotel hot tub at the time and didn’t see Yevaeh struggling to stay above water.
During a tearful apology in court on Wednesday, Washington called the deceased girl a “beautiful soul.”
(The Associated Press contributed to this story)
