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Illinois babysitter heading to trial in toddler's death

Posted December 22, 2015 6:00 am

The Associated Press

NEOGA, Ill. (AP) - A Cumberland County judge has decided a 21-year-old woman will stand trial in the death of a 1-year-old girl who she was babysitting.

The Effingham Daily News (http://bit.ly/1TeN4Ar ) reports that Natasha L. Gordon of Neoga has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the Aug. 27 death of Arianna McNeal.

Special agent Timothy Brown of the Illinois State Police testified Monday that Gordon told him she left Arianna in the bathtub with her boyfriend's 3-year-old daughter while she stepped onto the porch to speak with her boyfriend. He testified that Gordon said Arianna was face down in the bathtub when she went to check on the children.

An autopsy performed on the toddler couldn't determine a cause of death and showed no signs of trauma.

A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Feb. 1.

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Information from: Effingham Daily News, http://www.effinghamdailynews.com

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