American woman of Georgia faces murder charges for the death of her own baby

Alisha Stevens, 34, of Sylvania, is charged with murder in the second degree

By Edward Era Barbacena 

 A Sylvania woman is facing charges in the death of her infant in Burke County.

In a heartrending turn of events, a one-year-old girl was found unresponsive in 4 feet of water in Burke County, Georgia. Her mother, Alisha Stevens, has been charged with second-degree murder. As the community grapples with this devastating loss, they seek answers and justice.

Burke County Sheriff’s Deputies and EMA were called to the 600 block of Winter Road, Monday just before 1 p.m., in reference to an unresponsive child.

She was immediately taken to Burke Health, where medical personnel tried to save her life.

She did not survive.

“Preliminary information provided to deputies was that the child was left unattended for some time and while unattended the child fell into a hole that had been dug in the back yard of the Winter Road address,” the Burke County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday in a statement.

The child was later pronounced dead upon arriving at Burke Healt.

Investigators have arrested and charged her mother, 34-year-old Alisha Stevens, with one count of Murder in the Second Degree.

The arrest warrant states that the mother, with criminal negligence, ”caused the death of her daughter by not watching her when the child “ran around the property.”

According to the arrest warrant, the mother was grilling at the time.

Stevens is being held at the Burke County Detention Center.

Addlyn’s family says they’re remember her as a happy child.

“She was thriving, she was happy. She was joyful. She was a light to anybody who met her,” said Rachel Lesesne, Addlyn’s aunt.

The child was in the care of her mother, 34-year-old Alisha Stevens, of Sylvania, at the time of the incident, deputies said.