Fairfield Grandmother Confesses To Drowning Grandson, 4, In Bathtub
By Kelly Ryan
FAIRFIELD (CBS13) — A grandmother is in police custody after allegedly drowning her grandson on Tuesday.
Fairfield Police said the grandmother has confessed to the drowning.
Neighbors say they never saw the children playing outside the Fairfield home. They also were suspicious of the grandmother's initial story that the boy accidentally drowned in the bathtub.
It was mid-morning on Tuesday when some residents in the 1400 block of Jefferson Street in Fairfield heard someone cry out.
Neighbors described what they thought was a "death scream" and say they saw the woman rush out of the home.
Fairfield Police and firefighters were called out to the home at around 11 a.m. to a report of a drowning and found the boy unconscious and not breathing. Attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful and he died at a local trauma center.
Dawn Diana Raines-Hewes, 51, was arrested on suspicion of murder, as police say she intentionally drowned her grandson in the bathtub.
Detectives say the boy was in the custody and being cared for by Raines-Hewes along with two other grandchildren—two girls, a 1-year-old and 6-year-old. Both girls were unharmed.
Raines-Hewes was booked into Solano County jail on suspicion of murder and held without bail.
Police tell CBS13 Raines-Hewes is being held in a safety cell designed to hold inmates who might harm themselves or others.
In the meantime, these neighbors who say they don't really know Raines-Hewes found it hard to believe initial reports the 4 year old accidentally drown while under the grandmother's supervision are still rattled by the cries she made from her front yard.
Investigators aren't releasing a motive yet. Raines-Hewes is expected be arraigned Thursday.
This child's death is Fairfield's 10th homicide this year and comes less than 2 weeks after the death of an 18 month old allegedly shaken and dropped on the floor by his babysitter.
