A grand jury indicted a woman accused of hitting and drowning her young child in Tallahassee. The indictment came down Tuesday and includes charges of first-degree felony murder, aggravated child abuse, and aggravated manslaughter of a child. The suspect is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.
View the indictment here.
This involves Raymona Ford. Tallahassee Police say they found her 2-year-old child drowning in a bathtub back in May. The child was taken to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital with no brain function. EMS personnel also noted seizure-like behavior. The child was taken off life support four days later.
An arrest report says Ford told officers she left the child in the bathtub for a few minutes to check on the stove and her other young child. But police found inconsistencies in her story, including how long she left the child unattended.
Police say Ford took measures to conceal her involvement in the abuse. After learning the child was having a seizure before he drowned, they say Ford admitted to hitting him in the head several times.
Documents also say this was not the first drowning incident involving Ford. Police say the first incident happened in 2023, and the boy was just 11 months old. It wasn’t reported as suspicious at the time.
Ford originally received homicide and child cruelty charges. She made her first court appearance in August.
The new indictment argues Ford knowingly abused and neglected the child which led to his death.
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