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Boston Globe
a day ago
- Boston Globe
Two Pittsfield educators charged with involuntary manslaughter in drowning of 12-year-old at summer program
A student at Herberg Middle School in Pittsfield, Essien went to Beartown State Forest in Great Barrington on July 17 as part of the school's 21st Century learning program, prosecutors said. Towards the end of the day trip, she was taken with other students to swim in Benedict Pond. Advertisement Organizers initially planned for two small groups to enter the water separately. But because the trip was running behind schedule, all 35 children on the trip were allowed to swim at the same time, at approximately 12:45 p.m., prosecutors said. Prosecutors said at least three children told Braley, the program's onsite supervisor, that Essien was unable to swim and had gone under the water. Those warnings were allegedly dismissed, and Essien was not identified as missing until around 1:40 p.m., after students had left the water and got on the bus to leave. Staff then began searching the dressing rooms and bathrooms, prosecutors said, and called Essien's father to see if she had returned to Pittsfield. At roughly 1:45 p.m., emergency responders arrived after receiving a 911 call from a concerned bystander, rather than summer program staff, according to Julia Sabourin, a spokesperson for the district attorney's office. Advertisement Essien's body was pulled from the water just before 2 p.m., prosecutors said. Investigators found that various lapses in supervision and safety protocols contributed to the girl's death , prosecutors said. Namely, program staff never administered swim tests to the children, as required by state law, and did not keep track of which students were in the water, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said only 25 students were expected to be on the trip, according to a state forest permit, and only 15 were expected to be in the water at any given time. But Braley allegedly allowed all 35 students in the water at once — a number that would have required an extra lifeguard on duty, prosecutors said. Whitacre, as program coordinator, did not provide staff with orientation plans to ensure the safety of children swimming at the pond, prosecutors said. Six adult chaperones were present on the trip, Sabourin said, along with three student interns and one student lifeguard. In a statement, Berkshire District Attorney Timothy J. Shugrue said that Whitacre and Braley neglected their 'profound duty of care' and that 'their actions, or rather lack thereof, caused' Essien's death. 'Parents entrust summer programs with their children under the belief that these experiences will be safe and enriching,' Shugrue said. 'That trust carries immense responsibility. In this case, a series of preventable and reckless oversights directly contributed to the unintentional death of a child.' Braley worked as a middle school English teacher at Herberg from August 2021 to June 2024, according to her Advertisement Braley did not return to the district for the latest school year, Sabourin said. She did not cooperate with law enforcement during the investigation, Sabourin said. An attorney listed for Braley could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday. Her arraignment is scheduled for August, prosecutors said. It's not clear whether Whitacre is still employed by the Pittsfield public schools. As of Thursday, she was listed as interim coordinator for the 21st Century program on the district's Her arraignment has not yet been scheduled, and no attorney is listed in her case, according to court records. She could not immediately be reached for comment. Essien had moved to the Berkshires from Ghana months before her death, At the time of her death, she was 'just days shy' of her 13th birthday, Sabourin said. The superintendent of the Pittsfield school district, Joseph Curtis did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday. Camilo Fonseca can be reached at
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Two educators charged with manslaughter in Western Mass. 12-year-old's 2024 drowning death
Two people have been charged in the death of a 12-year-old Pittsfield Public Schools student who drowned during a field trip last summer, the Berkshire County District Attorney's Office announced Wednesday. EarlGiver Essien, who primarily went by 'Giver,' died on July 17, 2024, during an outing at Beartown State Forest in Great Barrington that was part of a summer learning program at her middle school, the district attorney's office said. The Herberg Middle School student would've turned 13 later that month, according to her obituary. Berkshire County District Attorney Timothy Shugrue is set to share information about the suspects and allegations in the case Thursday morning during a press conference. But according to The Berkshire Eagle, the two people charged in the case are Linda Whitacre and Meghan Braley — both of whom helped run the school summer program Giver was attending when she died. On Wednesday, a Berkshire County grand jury indicted Whitacre, 68, and Braley, 30, on one count each of manslaughter, reckless endangerment of a child and permitting injury to a child, according to court records. Neither woman had a lawyer listed with Berkshire County Superior Court as of Wednesday evening, and their arraignments had not been scheduled. Both Whitacre and Braley helped run the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program — the program Giver was attending when she drowned — at Pittsfield Public Schools last summer. The federally funded program aims to increase learning time for students after school and over the summer. Whitacre was the district coordinator for the learning program, the Eagle reported. She is currently listed as its interim grant coordinator on Pittsfield Public Schools' website. Braley was the program's site supervisor, according to her LinkedIn profile. She was also a seventh-grade English teacher at Herberg Middle School for three years before Giver's death, but left this position before the beginning of the 2024-25 school year. Pittsfield Superintendent Joseph Curtis didn't return a request for comment on the indictments Wednesday evening. After Giver's death, witnesses connected to the case alleged that the program's leaders did not do swim tests with the students to assess their skill level — even though state law required them to do so, the Eagle reported. Christian's Law mandates that all municipal and recreational programs and licensed camps determine the swimming ability of all underage campers before they are allowed to swim. It also requires that summer programs and camps provide life jackets and other flotation devices to all children who swim poorly or not at all. The Massachusetts Legislature passed the law in 2012 — five years after a 4-year-old Sturbridge boy drowned while swimming without a life jacket during a town summer camp program. The law, which was named after the boy, was adopted in the hope of preventing future children who struggle with swimming from drowning. Witnesses say there was a lifeguard on duty while the students swam during the field trip last summer, the Eagle reported. No adults realized that Giver was missing until after the students got out of the water to change and a head count was conducted. It is not clear how long Giver was underwater before she was brought to shore, the Eagle reported. CPR was performed in an unsuccessful attempt to revive her. Harvard researcher accused of trying to smuggle frog embryos into the U.S. indicted FBI continues to track down plutonium allegedly sold by Hadley man Medford man accused of manufacturing pills for 'high-level drug trafficking scheme' Brockton man ID'd after fatal shooting outside Dedham BJ's Mass. teen's death in N.H. shooting ruled a homicide; investigation ongoing Read the original article on MassLive.
