Sheriff's deputies say a North Texas mother charged in the drowning of her infant daughter had been distracted by Facebook when she left the girl unattended in a bathtub.



In a news release, Parker County investigators said Cheyenne Summer Stuckey, 21, originally told deputies she had left her 6-month-old child alone in the bathtub "for only a couple minutes" inside her Reno, Texas, home on June 13.

The mother later returned to find her daughter, Zayla, unresponsive and floating face-down in the bathtub.



Stuckey told police she was uncertain whether she had placed a bathtub stopper in the drain. Investigators later found Stuckey had been on Facebook Messenger for at least 18 minutes while her child was in the tub, authorities said.

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During her interview with police, Stuckey said she had implicated herself in the negligence of her daughter's death by saying she left the infant unsupervised and became "distracted" by another child, Facebook messenger and a loud TV.



Deputies said the mother tried to save her daughter, but "did not know how."

Stuckey was booked into the Parker County Jail and charged with injury to a child. No bond has been set, as of writing.

Deputies said other children in the home were placed into foster care.

NBC Dallas-Fort Worth has reached out to Stuckey's lawyer for comment on her behalf.