ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, October 11, 1996 TAG: 9610110028
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
A Montgomery County man has been indicted on one count of felony child neglect in connection with his disabled daughter's June 7 bathtub drowning.
The Montgomery Circuit Court Grand Jury directly indicted David E. Allison, of Mount Tabor Road, Monday in connection with his 6-year-old daughter's death.
Montgomery County Commonwealth's Attorney Phil Keith said the evidence will show Allison failed to keep careful watch on his daughter. Nancy Claire Allison, who had a history of seizures, was left playing in the bathtub by herself. Her father used an electronic monitor to listen to his daughter.
The law that Allison is charged under states that a parent is guilty of child neglect when his "willful act or omission in the care of such child was so gross, wanton and culpable as to show a reckless disregard for human life." A conviction on the felony charge carries a maximum punishment of five years in prison.
Keith said the baby monitor was not sufficient to keep watch on the developmentally disabled child.
Blacksburg Fire and Rescue workers responded to the Allison home just outside the town limits at 4:25 p.m. June 7. Nancy was taken to Columbia Montgomery Regional Hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Allison last checked on his daughter at 3:45 p.m., Keith said.
"She liked to play in the tub and it was used as a way to baby-sit the child," Keith said.
He did not know how long Nancy was left alone in the tub.
County social services officials, along with the Sheriff's Office, investigated the case.
Sheriff's Lt. Bill Tolley said in June that the father discovered the girl in the bathtub and tried to resuscitate her before the rescue squad arrived.
Nancy was taking anti-seizure medicine, but it is unknown if a seizure had anything to do with her death, Tolley said in June.
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