Local News in Brief : Mother Held in Drowning
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A San Dimas woman whose 7-week-old daughter drowned when left unattended in a bathtub has been arrested on a charge of murder, authorities said Tuesday.
Gabriele Oropeza, 33, was arrested by homicide detectives investigating the 6 p.m. Monday drowning of her daughter, Sheriff’s Deputy Bill Wehner said.
The woman had put the infant, Heidi Martin, in a plastic portable bathtub and placed it into the full-size tub in the bathroom, Wehner said. Oropeza then turned on the water and let it run into the big tub, he said.
The woman left the bathroom and went outside for a short time and returned to check on the baby, who was fine, he said.
“She then received a phone call and went to answer it,” Wehner said. “While she was talking on the phone, her husband, Bruce Martin, 34, went into the bathroom and found the baby floating face down in the small tub.”
The child was pronounced dead at San Dimas Community Hospital.
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