A 41-year-old mother whose 2-year-old son drowned during a bath at home in Placentia was scheduled to make her first appearance in court Tuesday on a charge of murder.
Melissa Lynn Beisel was charged with murder and a felony count of assault on a child with force likely to produce great bodily injury resulting in death. Beisel, who was booked in Orange County Jail on Saturday, was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in the jail courtroom in Santa Ana.
Officers were called to the home in the area of Main Street and Santa Fe Avenue at about 9 p.m. Sept. 22. Paramedics rushed Aidan Beisel to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to the Placentia Police Department.
Investigators determined Aidan’s mother was giving the child a bath when she stepped away, then returned to find the toddler face down in the water, police said.
“Her statement to investigators was that she stepped away for a short period to grab something,” Placentia Police Department Lt. Joe Connell added.
The mother was also taken to a hospital then for treatment of unspecified self-inflicted injuries, Connell said. She was booked in September but prosecutors did not immediately file charges and she was released.
Four other children, all in their early to mid-teens, live at the home, the lieutenant said.
“The investigation revealed that the mother was giving the child a bath in a walk-in shower, using a plastic storage bin,” according to Connell. “The mother walked out of the bathroom to obtain some soap and left the child alone for approximately 2 minutes. When the mother returned, she found the child face down in the bin, unresponsive.”
Beisel stayed in the bathroom with the child for about six hours before a family member found her and called authorities, Connell said.
“Based on investigation at the scene as well as interviews conducted, Beisel was taken into custody after being discharged from the hospital (and booked on suspicion of) involuntary manslaughter and child abuse causing great bodily injury,” police said.