Mother pleads guilty to murder charge in drowning of 19-month-old daughter

A Holt, Mo., mother has pleaded guilty to a murder charge in the death of her 19-month-old daughter.

Amberlyn June Farrow, 29, was charged with second-degree murder and first-degree child endangerment after her daughter, Josslyn Crawford, drowned in a pond on family property in Holt nearly two years ago. The case was headed for trial, but Farrow pleaded guilty to both charges on Friday.

A Clay County grand jury had accused Farrow of knowingly creating a substantial risk when she took the child to the pond and failed to protect her from entering the water.

Fire and emergency crews were called to the home about 10 p.m. on Oct. 16, 2013, and found relatives trying to resuscitate the child. Josslyn was rushed to Liberty Hospital, but she could not be revived.

Relatives told fire officials the child had been unaccounted for for at least 30 minutes before she was found.

Joshua Crawford, the child’s father, filed a wrongful-death civil lawsuit against Farrow and some of her relatives. In the suit, Crawford claimed that Farrow left Josslyn unattended around or near a pond on family property.

Crawford also claimed that the defendants failed to maintain a dock on the pond and didn’t have adequate lights around or near the pond.

This story was originally published August 28, 2015 at 11:26 PM with the headline "Mother pleads guilty to murder charge in drowning of 19-month-old daughter."