Deshayla Neal Arrested For Going To Walmart (During Kids Pool Party)

[Dakota Valkyrie]

http://i31.tinypic.com/2w5lyfb.jpg http://i26.tinypic.com/308kt40.jpg

Is it me, or does she have a wonky eye?
Omaha police arrested a woman and accused her of not properly watching a girl who drowned in a pool.

Iyana Allen died in late February. The 4-year-old was at a friend's birthday party at the Omaha Executive Inn and Suites.

Police said they issued a warrant for 25-year-old Deshayla Neal's arrest. She has been charged with felony manslaughter.

They said Neal was Allen's primary caregiver at the time of the drowning. According to a police affidavit, Neal went to Walmart, leaving Iyana and other children in the pool alone for almost two hours.
[...]

Allen's aunt, Keisha Mayo, said she can't believe that Neal left the children alone.

"Why would you leave kids in a pool to go to Walmart with no one watching them? Did you think they were going to be responsible to watch their own selves?" Mayo said.

The affidavit said night security cameras showed Allen jumping into the pool at 9:07 p.m. and starting to sink. A woman at the pool pulled her out. Three minutes later, Allen appears on the tape, back in the water and struggling. She floated to the deep end and disappeared underwater.

At 10:37, according to the affidavit, a boy dove into the water and discovered Allen's body at the bottom of the pool.

Neal told police she returned from Walmart at about 10 p.m., almost an hour after Allen went underwater for the last time. Neal said she rounded up all of the children, including Allen, and took them upstairs. She said when she realized that Allen wasn't there, a floor-by-floor search for her began.
http://www.ketv.com/mostpopular/24442460/detail.html

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/200806807

http://i32.tinypic.com/157j6ua.jpg

[XenMojo]

Now, don't get me wrong, I know these kids were not that one woman's responsibility, but don't you think after pulling a sinking 4 year old out of the water that first time she should have taken her to some sort of authority in the hotel? If I were that woman and I had to pull out a drowning 4 year old that was obviously left ALONE by a POOL I would damn sure contact SOMEONE and not just leave the area!

Wonder if she could also be brought up on some sort of charge for that.

[princesskrysteena]

was this a little kids birthday party?...why was it so late..10pm?

kudos to the lady who saved the little girl the first time...but maybe she should have stayed at the pool realizing that there were no adults supervising the kids...or alerted the front desk that there were unsupervised kids at the pool...
*xenmojo beat me to it*

another thought...dont hotel pools usually close at 9pm...?

so sorry this worthless, waste of a human being failed you little girl...RIP.

...myspace pictures just scream "look at me, look at me!!! i'm always bending over"

[LestYeBeJudged]

I really can't wrap my head around this one. The fail after fail after fail. Too many questions.

[Jerri Blank]

Yeah I don't get this...So it was kid's b-day party going on in the evening, at a hotel with no one watching the children? what the hell kinda of kids party is this? maybe a free for all is all I see.

[Edit]
I just got this from the legacy obituary
ALLEN, IYANA NYJAIBREYONNE (http://www.legacy.com/obituaries.asp?Page=ObitFinderSSIResults)

What is 'NYJAIBREYONNE'? I also agree with princesskrysteena, I worked for the Hilton for a bit and the pool closed every night including weekends at 9:30pm

[mominAZ]

Not that Ms. Neal isn't at fault here, but if it was a child's birthday party, wouldn't the birthday kid's parents/family be in attendance? I agree with everyone...too many unanswered questions.
RIP Iyana. You didn't deserve this.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

I tried to find some reporting from back when this occurred. Most articles said they were investigating who was responsible for supervision. This article (from March 1, 2010) gives the clearest picture of what happened:

Witness reports paint a troubling picture of events Saturday night before a 4-year-old girl was found dead at the bottom of an Omaha hotel swimming pool.

Two people told KETV NewsWatch 7 the pool was overcrowded with children. Both also said the supervision was minimal.

According to witness accounts, two adults were left to supervise the children. One adult was a pregnant woman and the other was text messaging on her phone, witnesses said.
[...]

The two witnesses said there were 22 children in the capacity 25 pool when they left around 8 p.m.

One woman confirmed to KETV that her 14-year-old son dove into the pool and saw Allen at the bottom of the deep end. The boy told his mom, who then went in and grabbed the girl.

The hotel's general manager said a hotel guest told an attendant at about 9:15 p.m. that a lot of children were around the pool and they weren't being watched.

The attendant went to the pool and told the women they needed to supervise the children more closely.

The manager also said the hotel has a "no pool party" policy. He also said there can only be four people per rented room, not 20.
[...]

Allen's aunt, Keisha Mayo, said the girl was celebrating the birthday of a 7-year-old friend when she drowned.http://www.ketv.com/news/22709024/detail.html

A current article has this, so I assume (since she was serving cake) that Deshayla Neal was the mom of the birthday kid and "in charge" of supervision:

More disturbing details laid out by prosecutors put Deshayla at a Wal-Mart during the party then coming back and serving cake in the room, only then to realize Iyana wasn't there.http://www.kmtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12896668

[Dakota Valkyrie]

After Iyana Allen's 3-year-old sister dropped a piece of birthday cake at a party inside an Omaha hotel room, some teenagers noticed that Iyana wasn't there to do the big-sisterly thing and help pick up her cake.

At the time, 4-year-old Iyana was at the bottom of a swimming pool at the Omaha Executive Inn and Suites, 3650 S. 72nd St.
[...]

On Wednesday, Douglas County Judge Joseph Caniglia ordered Neal to stand trial on a charge of manslaughter.

Omaha Police Detective Robert Butler said in court that the video surveillance at 9:07 p.m. Feb. 27 showed Iyana running next to the pool and jumping into the deep end. The video, he said, shows Iyana struggling in the water and sinking.

An unidentified female then grabs Iyana, takes her from the water and puts her on a ladder near the pool, Butler said.

The female then points to the shallow end of the pool, he said.

Iyana heads that way. Three or four minutes later, the video again shows her struggling in the water.

This time, no one came to her rescue. She struggled, thrust her arms above the water and sank.

Butler testified that the video then shows Iyana floating, drifting out of the view of the camera.

During the party, Butler said, Neal twice left the pool to run errands, leaving the kids behind.

Neal told police that another woman whose child also was at the party was left in charge while she ran errands. Butler testified that that woman told police she was not at the pool at the time and only came to the party later to pick up her children — after the drowning occurred.

Butler said police have attempted to conduct a follow-up interview with the woman since then, but she has eluded them.

Neal's attorney, Assistant Douglas County Public Defender Tim Burns, argued that there were at least five teenage girls present at the party who were responsible for the younger children while Neal ran errands.

Prosecutor Carrie Strovers countered that there is no evidence that any of those teenagers were ever put in charge before Neal left.

After Iyana's sister spilled her cake, Butler said, several people noticed that Iyana was missing. The sister said Iyana still was down in the pool. Some people went down to look for her but didn't see her.

The little sister again told them Iyana was in the pool. The 4-year-old was found after a second attempt to find her, Butler said.
http://www.omaha.com/article/20100818/NEWS97/100819708/1071

[Dakota Valkyrie]

It was a heartbreaking case — 4-year-old Iyana Allen drowning at a birthday party in a swimming pool at an Omaha hotel.

And beyond the little girl's loved ones, no one's heart is more broken than Deshayla Neal, her attorney said.

Neal, 27, pleaded no contest this week to misdemeanor child abuse in connection with Iyana's death. Neal cried throughout her plea — as prosecutors laid out how she brought the girl to the birthday party as a favor to a family friend, then left to run errands.

Neal originally had been charged with manslaughter on the theory that her actions unintentionally resulted in Iyana's death. That felony is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

However, prosecutors reduced that charge after consulting with Allen's mother, Monique Wise.

Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said he wanted to ensure that Neal took some responsibility for what happened. Neal now faces a maximum of a year in jail.

Prosecutors said they would not object to probation for Neal, who has no record.

Authorities have acknowledged that there was confusion over who was put in charge before the February 2010 drowning at Omaha Executive Inn & Suites near 72nd and Grover Streets.

Neal was holding a birthday party for one of her own children when she left to go get supplies, plates and napkins, for the party. Several teenage girls remained behind — and there was a dispute over whether Neal clearly communicated to those girls that they were in charge of Iyana.

Neal's attorney, Douglas County Public Defender Tom Riley, said his client is distraught over what happened.

Video surveillance showed Iyana running next to the pool and jumping into the deep end, then struggling in the water and sinking. An unidentified woman grabbed Iyana, took her from the water and put her on a ladder near the pool.

The woman then pointed to the shallow end of the pool. Iyana headed that way. Three or four minutes later, the video again showed her struggling in the water. This time, she drowned.

Riley said the water was too murky for anyone to spot Iyana at the bottom of the pool. The attorney said he didn't know if Neal could have stopped the drowning had she been there.

"I told her, 'I suppose you're always going to feel some moral responsibility for this,' " Riley said. "But the question is, 'Are you a criminal?' While she might do some things differently now, that doesn't make her actions criminal. It's just a terribly sad situation."
http://www.omaha.com/article/20111025/NEWS97/710259855

[Dakota Valkyrie]

An Omaha woman was sentenced Tuesday to a year's probation in the drowning of a 4-year-old girl at a hotel swimming pool.

Deshayla Neal, 27, was sentenced for misdemeanor child abuse in Douglas County District Court. She had faced a manslaughter charge in the February 2010 death of Iyana Allen, but pleaded no contest to the reduced charge in October.http://journalstar.com/ap/state/omaha-woman-gets-probation-in-girl-s-drowning/article_5a1fbe67-66a7-5aa1-92c5-c0f5e2ed4d6c.html