PARADISE, Pa. — The second of two people charged in the drowning death of a 4-month-old baby in the bathtub of a Lancaster County hotel will serve up to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to third-degree murder, the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office said Tuesday.
David Meadows, 27, of Ronks, was sentenced by Lancaster County Judge Dennis Reinaker at a hearing on May 24, according to prosecutors.
His plea is the same as the one entered by co-defendant Amy Manning in April. Manning is serving the same sentence as Meadows in the case, prosecutors said.
According to investigators, the 4-month-old victim was found dead in the bathtub of a room at the Roadway Inn in Paradise on May 20, 2021.
Both defendants met responding State Police troopers in the parking lot and identified themselves as the victim’s parents and caretakers.
Manning and Meadows said they lived at the hotel with the baby and two other children. They said while Manning was getting the other children ready for school, Meadows was playing video games and the baby was left unattended in the bathtub with the water running.
Using video evidence from the hotel, investigators later determined the baby was left unattended for at least 20 minutes, at a minimum.
Manning and Meadows both admitted this was something they did daily, despite being told previously that such conduct was dangerous.
The victim was transported to Lancaster General Hospital and then Hershey Medical Center via helicopter for attempted lifesaving measures before being pronounced deceased.
An autopsy performed by the Lancaster County Coroner’s Office determined the cause of death to be freshwater drowning.
Meadows was arrested in West Earl Township by state police on September 3, 2021, after charges were filed.
Manning had fled after the incident to Tennessee, where she was arrested on September 4, 2021, by Nashville Metro Police and extradited back to Pennsylvania.
PSP Troopers Scott Enedy and Chadwick Roberts filed charges.
Assistant District Attorney Karen Mansfield prosecuted the case and negotiated the plea deal.
