Police Detail Chilling Events Leading to 9-Year-Old's Death

Editor's Note: This story contains descriptions of a child's death that some may find disturbing. It is a sensitive and tragic event, and we urge readers to exercise discretion when deciding to proceed. Our thoughts are with all affected by this heartbreaking incident.

Before Anyah Smith made her first court appearance on Tuesday, charged in the death of her daughter, prosecutors submitted documents to the court which described the disturbing sequence of events which led to the nine-year-old’s apparent drowning, as police understand it.

According to police, Ms. Smith’s mother called 911 on Saturday morning around 2:10 a.m. to ask that a welfare check be conducted on her daughter, who she said might be having a psychotic breakdown. When officers arrived at the Agnes Fancy address they were given, they found several household items strewn on the ground outside.

The responding officers spoke to a witness who said that Ms. Smith and her daughter had left the house about two minutes before her mother called 911. The witness told police that Ms. Smith was wearing a blue dress and a white hat, with a funeral ribbon pinned to her shoulder. She was carrying a concrete block on her head, the witness said. Her daughter was reportedly dressed in a two-piece beige outfit. After speaking to the witness, the patrol officers searched for Ms. Smith and her daughter, but were unable to locate them.