CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- A fun afternoon at the pool with the family on June 11 suddenly turned into a terrifying situation for Kadarra Sykes.
"He went under the water and the water went in him and that's how he stopped breathing," Sykes said.
Sykes said another boy pushed her infant son Christian into the pool and then stepped on him.
"I jumped over there and took Christian from him when I saw Christian wasn't breathing or nothing I started screaming," Sykes said.
Kadarra Sykes and Christian
Sykes claims she was within arm’s length of the child at the time of the incident.
"I was right there," Sykes said.
But, Chesterfield Police later charged Sykes with abuse and neglect of children.
The incident happened on at the Grand Oaks apartments in the 5300 block of Grand Oaks Forest Circle.
Police said Sykes stepped away from the pool area and when she returned other family members had pulled the child from the pool and were performing CPR.
"When I got to the hospital they were questioning me. I wasn't even in my right state of mind when they was questioning me," Sykes said.
Christian recovered quickly, and Sykes said her son will suffer no long-term consequences.
Christian
However, she said investigators want to hold the wrong person accountable.
“Instead of them trying to find the little boy that did it, they’re pressing charges on me,” she said.
Chesterfield Police said they made the decision to charge Sykes after consulting with the Commonwealth's Attorney and Child Protective Services.
