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EchaSez

Hope is the thing with feathers.
07/27/17

Tracey Anne Boyd and Elise CeramiTarrant County DA’s office.
A former swim coach in Texas has been indicted in the drowning of a 13-year-old girl during practice last year, authorities said.

Tracey Anne Boyd, 49, has been charged with abandonment and endangering of a child by criminal negligence in a direct indictment on June 29, a spokesman for the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Wednesday.


Elisa Adelle Cerami, who swam with the North Texas Nadalores Club, died hours after being pulled from the water during practice at the Carroll ISD Aquatics Center in Southlake in June 2016.

Boyd, according to the indictment, allegedly failed to “watch or observe” Cerami while she swam and failed to ensure that the teen was supervised by someone else. If convicted on the felony charge, she faces between 180 days and two years behind bars, WFAA reports.

The indictment does not indicate exactly what investigators think happened in the pool before Cerami drowned, but Boyd’s attorney, Dan Hagood, told the local ABC affiliate that she’s not guilty and will explain her version of events in the courtroom.

Boyd, who is due to return to court on Aug. 1, worked as an assistant swim coach at the time of the incident, which was ruled an accidental drowning by Tarrant County’s medical examiner. Boyd is no longer employed by the school district, officials confirmed to the Star-Telegram.

Cerami’s relatives issued a statement indicating the charge against Boyd “describes her conduct,” adding that they believe prosecutors will devote the office’s full resources in their case against Boyd.

...Another swim coach at the facility, Bill Christensen, suffered symptoms of a heart attack after trying to perform CPR on Cerami until paramedics arrived. Christensen survived and has not been charged with a crime, NBC5 reports.

Meanwhile, Cerami’s mother, Lori Cerami, is seeking higher safety standards at the district’s aquatic center, including lifeguard training via the American Red Cross for swim coaches...

http://nypost.com/2017/07/27/swim-coach-indicted-in-teens-drowning-during-practice/
 
Boyd, who is due to return to court on Aug. 1, worked as an assistant swim coach at the time of the incident, which was ruled an accidental drowning

They call it an accident, then charge her with a crime, meanwhile another coach has a heart attack while doing CPR but they mention he hasn't been charged with a crime. Did they think about charging him but decide a heart attack was enough?

Strangeness all around, I would be interested in knowing all the information on this.
 
The girl was 13 and, as far as I know, swimming laps. Old enough to do that by yourself, well maybe not nowadays since our society has been hard at work to sissify our youth and keep them in perpetual helplessness, you know how many fucking classmates my daughter had to show how to use a god damn washer and dryer? A shit ton, pretty much the whole fucking floor in her dorm.... sorry, I digress, back to the issue. Now unless the couches was making this girl do punishment laps or some other shit, accidents fucking happen.
 
I've seen too many horror movies to want to be left alone while swimming laps especially if it's an indoor pool. :nailbiting:
 
Those who can...Do.
Those who can't...Teach
Those who can't teach...Coach Swimming.
 
I wish tthe fuckers i paid to teach my kid how to swim at the local Y wouldj ust let em be. Fuckers got one instructor for 4 or 5 damn kids, 30 min classes that never start on fucking time. End up with under 5 min of instructional time. ANd the instruction they get is so sugarcoated and half assed. I yanked her out of that shit after week 2, did it my own way. Best and only true way to learn anything is by doing it, or attempting to do it at least. Sink or swim.

The girl was 13 and, as far as I know, swimming laps. Old enough to do that by yourself, well maybe not nowadays since our society has been hard at work to sissify our youth and keep them in perpetual helplessness, you know how many fucking classmates my daughter had to show how to use a god damn washer and dryer? A shit ton, pretty much the whole fucking floor in her dorm.... sorry, I digress, back to the issue. Now unless the couches was making this girl do punishment laps or some other shit, accidents fucking happen.

Eh, bit different in that if it was swim practice she was likely swimming laps at the instruction of these coaches. Also, an athlete in practice is often going to push themselves and over-exert themselves in the process. Coach has a responsiiblity to look out for athletes under their charge in any sport/situation, but especially when water is involved.

Leaving kids alone in water seems just as irresponsible as a football coach not paying attention to an athletes hydration or signs of heat stroke/exhaustion/dehydration during a hot summer practice. Just no brainer, obvious shit that should be a top priority for any and every coach.

And an accident can still be a crime if negligence is proven to be involved, which seems quite obvoiusly to be the case here.
 
I don't understand why they didn't have at least one lifeguard. They're positioned above the pool and can see all parts of it. The victim would've been spotted immediately. Why is it not required that there is, at all times, at least one person dedicated to doing nothing but monitoring that pool?

http://www.fox4news.com/news/former-southlake-coach-on-trial-for-13-year-old-swimmer-s-death
[....]
Tracey Anne Boyd, a former coach for the Carroll Independent School District in Southlake, faces charges for abandoning and endangering a child by criminal negligence.
V-SOUTHLAKE%20DROWNING%20FOLO%209P_KDFW24d7_146.mxf_00.00.06.11_1543932043141.png_6482278_ver1.0_640_360.jpg

[....]
The prosecution is using surveillance video from the pool on the day of the incident to try and prove that the defendant was not paying attention when the teen drowned.

The defense maintains that this was an unfortunate accident and therefore the coach should not be held criminally liable.

Escorted out of the courtroom by some of her supporters, Boyd had nothing to say to reporters on the first day of her criminal trial.

The indictment says Boyd failed "to watch… Elise while (she) was in a swimming pool" or failed "to ensure that Elise was watched… by another responsible individual.”

Attorney Bree West is not affiliated with the case.

“It’s telling me that she had some duty to this child to keep the child safe,” West said. “And in doing in that duty, she did not do anything to make sure this child was put in danger in any way.”

Surveillance video played in court, but not accessible to the media, is a big part of the prosecution’s case. The motion-activated camera shows Coach Boyd walking past Elise near the edge of the pool inside the aquatic center. Boyd does not appear again until roughly nine minutes later when Elise is spotted in the water by other swimmers who call out for help.

The defense maintains Boyd was in the pool area the entire time watching the swimmers. It just wasn’t caught on that motion-activated surveillance video.

“That defense is that this child was likely at a practice or an organized athletic event. She was doing what she was supposed to be doing, the child was, and this unfortunate accident happened,” West said. “That is an actual defense to this type of charge.”
[....]
If convicted of child endangerment, Boyd faces up to ten years in prison.
 
http://www.fox4news.com/news/former-southlake-swim-coach-found-guilty-in-students-drowning
A Tarrant County grand jury found a former Southlake swim coach guilty of negligence in the drowning death of a student.
[....]
Defense attorneys presented testimony from a teammate who was swimming one lane over when she saw Elise at the bottom of the pool. She told the jury she looked up and called for the coaches and saw moments later the head coach and other swimmers trying to help her.

On Thursday, two swim coaches testified that a glare on the water can prevent someone from seeing the bottom of the pool.

Prosecutors also played motion-activated surveillance video that shows Boyd did not appear on video until about nine minutes after Elise was spotted underwater.
[....]
Both the defense and the state agreed on the sentencing that Boyd would only get probation after her conviction.

Again, they should have designated lifeguards. At least one depending on how many swimmers would be in the pool at one time. I would've hoped that more of an explanation would be presented as to what Ms. Boyd was doing for those 9 minutes and why she didn't ask another coach to watch the swimmers. Of course, she may have thought the other adults present would automatically do that. Whatever the case was, these sessions need to be better organized to prevent such lapses in safety.
 
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