Caretaker charged in teen girl’s bathtub drowning death

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A caretaker has been arrested and charged in the drowning death of a 17-year-old girl in North Carolina, police said.

Nikiya Meeks, 41, was jailed on a charge of patient abuse with “culpably negligent conduct causing death,” the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said in a news release late Friday.

Officers responded to call on Friday afternoon and found the teenager had drowned in a bathtub, police said. She was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

The girl had severe medical and physical disabilities and lived in the Charlotte home with her paid caretaker, police said.

The Charlotte Observer reports that Meeks was freed from custody on Saturday after posting bail.