'Little Angel' Drowned in Tub While Caretaker Allegedly Talked on the Phone for 30 Minutes: Police

Mar. 15, 2025

Nova Lei Bryant.Photo:GoFundMe

GoFundMe

A toddler girl who drowned in a bathtub is being remembered as “a sweet little angel” as her foster mother now faces a felony neglect charge after police allege she confessed to leaving the child alone in the water for 30 minutes.

Nova’s grandmother Carri L. Naumanwrotein a GoFundMe post that the girl died on June 26. According to the probable cause affidavit, the child died weeks after the bathtub incident, which took place at the suspect’s home in Brazil, Ind.

Volpatti called 911 after returning to the family’s bathroom and discovering her foster daughter “floating in the bathwater on her back, with only a small portion of her nose above water,” the affidavit alleges.

An officer responding to the scene performed CPR and was able to find a “faint pulse,” according to the affidavit. Subsequently, the officer rushed the girl to the hospital.

Volpatti initially told police she’d left Nova in the bathtub with the girl’s twin 4-year-old brothers — Volpatti’s biological children — for a matter of minutes while she went to get a drink in another room, according to the affidavit.

But two days later, after police requested a meeting with a friend of Volpatti’s, the foster mother came to the Brazil Police Department and allegedly admitted that she lied, telling investigators that she instead had an extended phone conversation with a friend upstairs while the three young children were left alone in the bathtub, according to the affidavit.

On the GoFundMe page, Nauman, Nova’s grandmother, wrote, “My precious little angel will not be forgotten.”

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“They said I wasn’t learning fast enough,” the toddler’s biological mother told the outlet.

“I’m mad, sad,” Conkright said. “I think it’s crazy.”

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

source: people.com