Springfield man charged in relation to child’s drowning

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — The Sangamon County State’s Attorney has announced criminal charges in relation to a seven-year-old’s drowning in Springfield earlier this year.

State’s Attorney John Milhiser said David Yankee was indicted by a grand jury Wednesday on four counts of endangering the life or health of a child. The charges come following an investigation by Springfield Police and Illinois DCFS.

The charges allege that on March 16, Yankee left three children, ages 4, 7 and 10, unattended for over an hour with a “dangerous environment” — the pool — in the backyard. Under Illinois law, each individual child was considered unattended because no one over the age of 14 was supervising them.

While Yankee was allegedly away from the children, the seven-year-old fell into the pool’s deep end, sank to the bottom and drowned. It was Yankee’s alleged violation of Illinois law that Milhiser said was the cause of the boy’s death.

If convicted, Yankee faces two to 10 years in prison for two of the counts and up to a year for the other two counts. Probation is also a possibility for each count.

Yankee made his first court appearance on Thursday. A public defender was appointed to represent him in court and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for Aug. 8.