FROM: HOLLEY CARNRIGHT
DATE: MARCH 9, 2017
RE: PRESS RELEASE – KAYLA PAGAN PLEA
MOTHER PLEADS GUILTY FOR DAUGHTER’S
DROWNING IN BATHTUB LAST SUMMER
In Ulster County Court 26 year old Kayla Pagan pleaded
guilty to Criminally Negligent Homicide for the drowning death of her 10 month
old daughter, in a bathtub at their home at 8 Hideaway Lane, in Marlboro. She was
indicted last August by an Ulster County Grand Jury for one count of Criminally
Negligent Homicide, a class E felony, and Endangering the Welfare of a Child, a
misdemeanor.
According to Ulster County DA Holley Carnright, the drowning
death occurred in the evening of July 8, 2016, when Kayla Pagan left her
daughter for several minutes in a plugged bathtub filling with water while she
attended to other minor matters and interests inside and outside of the house.
The child’s father, Richard Ryerson, returned home from work to find his daughter
floating face down in a bathtub full of water. Mr. Ryerson removed the child
from the tub, started CPR, and called 911. CPR performed by the father and a
neighbor with instructions from the 911 operator did not save the child’s life.
She was rushed by Mobile Life Support Services to St. Luke’s Hospital in
Newburgh where she was pronounced dead.
Kayla Pagan remains in
Ulster County Jail pending her sentencing in Ulster County Court on May 11,
2017.
The case was prosecuted by Ulster
County Assistant District Attorney Emmanuel Nneji. The defendant was represented by the Ulster
County Public Defender’s Office.
