Two Massachusetts educators were charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the drowning death of a 12-year-old girl.
The Berkshire District Attorney’s Office said that Meghan Braley, 29, and Linda Whitacre, 67, were indicted on involuntary manslaughter, permitting serious bodily injury of a child, and reckless endangerment of a child.
Giver Essien, 12, died on July 17, 2024, during a summer field trip organized by Pittsfield Public School’s Herberg Middle School.
The girl, who couldn’t swim, was allowed into Bennedict Pond along with 34 other kids at 12:45 p.m.
Prosecutors alleged that at least three children told Braley that Giver was in trouble and went underwater minutes later.
“These warnings were ignored,” DA Timothy Shugrue said. “At least three to four children approached Miss Braley and told her that Giver couldn’t swim, she was in the water, and she had gone under.”
“That was not followed up, and the kids say that was laughed off, which is disheartening, so there was never a search for the child.”
When the kids left the pond at 1:15 p.m. and loaded back onto the bus, the educators realized that Giver was missing and began searching for her, even calling her father to ask whether she had returned home alone.
“They called me first and said, ‘We can’t find her,’ and I said, ‘What do you mean you can’t find her?’” Giver’s father recalled.
The girl was pulled out of the pond at 1:58 p.m. A subsequent investigation revealed “lapses in supervision and safety protocols during the trip.”
