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Authorities: Mom was on Facebook while baby drowned in bathtub

Jiselle Rodriguez
WFAA-TV, Dallas-Fort Worth
Cheyenne Summer Stuckey faces a charge of injury to a child.

RENO, Texas — A mother whose baby drowned in a running bathtub while she was on Facebook Messenger now faces a charge in the child's death.

Cheyenne Summer Stuckey, 21, told Parker County Sheriff’s investigators she placed 6-month-old Zayla Hernandez in the bathtub with the water running on June 13. The baby was alone “for only a couple minutes," before Stuckey returned to find her daughter unresponsive, floating face-down in the bathtub.

Stuckey said she left the bathroom and became “distracted” by another child. She then logged on to Facebook Messenger as a television played loudly. At that time, officials said, she realized she had forgotten about Zayla. 

An investigation revealed Stuckey had been on Facebook messaging two people for at least 18 minutes while the infant was left unattended.

The baby was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.

Since the incident, the other children in the home were removed and placed in foster care.

A Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s preliminary autopsy report revealed Zayla died from drowning. 

Stuckey has been booked into jail and charged with injury to a child. Her bond has not been set.