The apparent drowning death of an 8-year-old boy in Platte County earlier this month appears to be no accident, according to court documents.
Aushena Warren
Aushena Warren, 29, remains in custody at the Platte County Detention Center in lieu of a $25,000 cash-only bond charged with felony for abandonment of a corpse in a June 13 incident at her home in a residential area of Kansas City, Mo. Court documents indicate she may have drowned her son in a bathtub and then left to attempt suicide.
Warren jumped off the Kit Bond Bridge at about 9:42 a.m. that morning, and according to reports, emergency crews were already in the area performing a training exercise in that area of the Missouri river. Workers pulled Warren to safety.
According to court documents, another resident of the home left for work that morning with Warren, the victim and another apparently younger child in the house.
At about 11:30 a.m., the resident received a FaceTime call from the other child in the house, stating that Warren had left the house. The resident returned to the home and found the victim deceased in an upstairs bathroom wearing underwear and Spiderman socks
The witness then moved the child out of the water and into a nearby bedroom.
Emergency personnel were called to the scene and declared the boy dead. The witness said he also found a note from Warren explaining that the family’s financial struggles were her fault and how she feared the children would be taken by the state and given out for adoption.
According to court documents, Warren said after her rescue that she is bi-polar and had not been taking her medication. She told authorities the children “were at home,” but when asked if the victim had been left in charge, she became emotional and ended the interview.
In an interview with the second child, he stated that he heard “a head bump” three times at some point that morning. He also relayed that Warren gave him and his brother “pink medicine” that morning, and that she was running water in the bathroom for a long time.
After leaving his room, the boy apparently found his brother “asleep” under the water with a red face and purple hands. He said his mother left the house looking sad without telling him where she was going.
The boy used the cell phone she left behind to call for help.
According to court documents, an autopsy revealed a contusion on the back of the victim’s skull. The cause of death was determined to be drowning.
The felony charge for abandonment of corpse was filed because Warren didn’t call 911 or make an attempt to report the drowning. So far, no other charges have been filed against her.