Authorities have made an arrest of 4-year-old Israel Scott’s swimming instructor following his drowning death in Waynesboro, Georgia. The Burke County Sheriff’s Office arrested Lexie C. Tenhuisen on Jan. 17 and charged her with one count of misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter.
Israel died after a swimming lesson with Tenhuisen on June 14, 2022. The toddler reportedly was on his second day of swimming lessons with Tenhuisen at the pool in Waynesboro when he drowned.
Tenhuisen was greeting the parents of her next class when her granddaughter saw Israel in the pool unresponsive. A nurse who’d brought her child for a lesson performed CPR, but Israel was pronounced dead after being transported to a hospital.
Another student having a lesson recalled seeing Israel get out of the water after the lesson, but said he later heard a splash.
According to Israel’s mother, Dory Scott, the parents of the children having swimming lessons weren’t allowed at the pool during the lessons, so she waited in her vehicle. She didn’t find out that Israel had been pulled out of the pool until she was alerted by a tap on her window from another parent at 10:55 a.m., with the parent saying, “Come get your baby.”
Scott described the moment and said she already knew something was wrong before she opened her door. “Initially when I saw that my heart dropped, and I felt in my heart that something had happened,” said Scott. “I just flung my door open, started screaming and crying, before I even really knew.”
The Burke County Sheriff’s Office declined to arrest Tenhuisen until district attorney Jared Williams instructed the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to issue an arrest warrant.
Tenhuisen was finally arrested at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, according to a statement released by the Burke County Sheriff’s Office. The 66-year-old paid a $10,000 cash bond that was preset and she was released.
“On Tuesday, 1/17/23 at 8:30 p.m. the GBI…
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