Mom charged with murder after 1-year-old drowns in DeKalb County bathtub

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DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A DeKalb County mother has been charged with murder after her 1-year-old daughter died days after drowning in a bathtub.

Police initially charged Ronica Jones, 27, with negligence after her daughter nearly drowned last week. They upped her charges after the child died on Monday night.

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Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes spoke with the child’s grandfather who says he believes it was all an accident.

“She explained that she was bathing her and that she turned to get the towel and when she turned back around, she slipped and fell in the tub,” Ronald Jones said. “You know called the ambulance to pick the baby up, that’s when they had arrested her.”

Police say they have enough evidence to support a murder charge.

Ronald Jones says now all he has are pictures and memories of his granddaughter.

“She was a happy little child, you know? Spunky, fun,” he described.

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The DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office told Fernandes that they are still investigating. They released a statement that read,

“The case involving Ronica Jones is still in the early stages. The DeKalb County Police Department is the lead investigative agency and any charging decisions at this point have been made by DKPD as we do in all cases, our office will review the facts and conduct a follow-up investigation before making a final charging decision and presenting the case to the Grand Jury.”

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Ronica Jones has bonded out on the murder charge and her family says she is prepared to fight because she has another child to take care of.

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