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Mother of drowned boy faces charges

A neighbor said Melissa Williams had a chronic problem with letting her children leave home unsupervised.

By RICK GERSHMAN and MARY SPICUZZA
Published September 23, 2005

RIDGE MANOR - It was sunny and warm eight days ago, when the little boys kept sneaking off to play.

The first escape was detected about 11 a.m., authorities said. A man saw Thomas and Preston Quillen, ages 3 and 2, playing unsupervised next to U.S. Highway 301.

He returned them to their mother, Melissa Lynn Williams, who lived in a mobile home down the street.

Shortly after noon, they were gone again, playing by the highway. This time a woman returned them to Williams, who soon fell asleep on the couch.

Again, she left the front door unlocked. Less than two hours later, a man spotted the boys playing by a pond just off the highway.

This time, Preston did not return.

While his mother slept, he drowned in the pond.

Friday, one week after her son's death, Williams was charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child by culpable negligence, a first-degree felony.

The State Attorney's Office also charged Williams, 29, of 34215 Johnny B Road with child abuse, a charge stemming from her alleged neglect of Thomas' welfare on the day his younger brother died. Thomas was not injured that afternoon.

A neighbor claimed Williams had a chronic problem with letting the children leave home unsupervised and that she reported the situation to the state Department of Children and Families a few times.

"I've tried to get somebody to listen to me," said Christina Carpenter, 29. The young brothers, she said, "came by here all the time. They would say, "eat,' or "drink.'

Carpenter said she would give them something to eat and drink and take them to their home just north of the Hernando-Pasco county line.

"Not only do I blame the parents, but I blame DCF," said Carpenter, the neighbor. She said "they can't do their job adequately (considering there were) several calls in one month alone."

Told of Carpenter's comments, DCF spokesman Al Zimmerman replied: "We do not ignore any complaint. Every single time we get a complaint, we go out and check it out, no ifs ands or buts."

DCF district administrator Don Thomas, has called for a special review of the case, which is common in a situation such as this, Zimmerman said. He could not release any details of the agency's contacts with Williams until the investigation is completed, likely early next week.

"We are going to find out what happened, what went wrong," Zimmerman said. "Right now, it appears everything was done properly and by the book, but we have to wait for this special review to be completed."

Williams, who has no previous felony record, remained at Hernando County Jail Friday on $30,000 bail.

The charges reflect more than just what happened on Sept. 16, Assistant State Attorney Lisa Herndon said.

"We take into account the history and the facts that occurred," said Herndon, supervising attorney for the Hernando County office.

"It's not just because the child drowned. There's obviously something more than that.... We took into account everything we knew about the situation."

Due to the DCF investigation, Herndon said she couldn't get into more specifics.

Hernando County sheriff's spokesman Capt. Alan Arick said he was informed that DCF took Thomas, the older brother,into protective custody.

According to an arrest report, Hernando sheriff's deputies responded to a 911 call advising them Preston and Thomas were playing near a pond. They arrived and spoke with a witness who told them Thomas was then with his mother, but Preston could not be found.

The deputies went to Williams' home and met with her and the 3-year-old, who told them Preston was in the nearby pond.

Deputy Scott Reak pulled the boy from the water and provided CPR until medical help arrived. Preston later was pronounced dead at Pasco Regional Medical Center in Dade City.

According to the report, Williams told sheriff's detectives she and her boyfriend had been investigated recently due to her children leaving the home unsupervised. She said the boys had left five or more times in the past and were returned by neighbors. Williams also said DCF had ordered her to place safety locks on the front door.

-- Times researcher Angie Drobnic Holan contributed to this report.

[Last modified September 23, 2005, 20:11:47]