A 27-year-old mother from Thornton was charged Tuesday in the drowning death of her 6-week-old daughter, whom she allegedly left alone in the tub with her two other daughters, ages 1 and 4.
Marliese Schreiber's baby girl, Nessa Muniz, died on Nov. 22.
Schreiber told police she put two of her older children in the bath and decided to empty the trash. She walked out of the apartment to a Dumpster but when came back, the bathroom door was locked. She said she woke up her napping husband and he opened the door with a credit card.
When the couple entered the bathroom, they found Nessa floating in the tub, unconscious, according to the affidavit.
A responding officer said that the bathtub was overflowing, the bathroom floor was completely underwater and that various household items were strewn about. Another officer noted that the carpeting in front of the bathroom door was saturated with water.
The two other girls were not hurt. They have been placed in Adams County foster care.
Schreiber spoke to several officers after Nessa's death and she changed her story several times, according to the arrest affidavit. At one point, she blamed one of her older daughters, saying that the girl was jealous of the baby, and was undergoing therapy because she was acting out. She said the older girl must have put the baby in the bathtub.
Schreiber was charged with criminally negligent child abuse resulting in death and two counts of negligent child abuse linked to her two other girls.
She is currently free on $20,000 bond.
