Babysitter found guilty in death of toddler who wandered away and drowned

A babysitter for a child who drowned in Logan County has been convicted in the toddler’s death.

Lindsey N. Dover, 31, of Russellville, was found guilty on Thursday of second-degree manslaughter in the July 10, 2024, death of the two-year-old girl, according to a report by WNKY.com.

Trial testimony showed that Dover allowed the child to wander away from the home while she was on the phone.

The jury deliberated for less than an hour before reaching a guilty verdict. The jury recommended the maximum 10-year sentence. Formal sentencing is scheduled for October 30.

As K105 previously reported, the incident occurred when the Logan County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were dispatched to a residence on Pleasant Drive in Russellville on Wednesday morning, July 10, at approximately 11:10 on the report of a missing two-year-old girl.

“Preliminary reports were the child may have wandered off into a surrounding cornfield,” the sheriff’s office said at the time.

Police, Logan County Search & Rescue, Logan County Emergency Management, and volunteers searched the cornfield and surrounding area when the child was found unresponsive “in a small body of water,” according to the sheriff’s office.

The “… small body of water” was revealed in the trial to be a koi pond.

CPR was performed on the child, who was then transported to a local hospital before being airlifted to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. The toddler died later that night.

By Ken Howlett, News Director

Contact Ken at ken@k105.com