Mum, 25, 'leaves disabled toddler to drown in bathtub' while she chats on the phone

Hailynn Volpatti, 25, has pleaded not guilty to felony neglect of a dependent after her foster daughter Nova Bryant drowned after being left alone in a bathtub

A mum who is alleged to have left her young foster child alone in a bathtub who then died while she took a phone call has been arrested.

Hailynn Volpatti, 25, was charged with felony neglect of a dependent resulting in death after 21-month-old Nova Bryant, who had special needs, drowned. First responders at the home in Indiana arrived they found the youngster still had a pulse.

They were able to revive her and she was transported to a local hospital. However, her condition was so severe she was transferred to Riley Hospital in Indianapolis for specialised treatment but later died.

Volpatti initially told the police she had put Nova in the bathtub with her two sons, both four, and then left to get a drink. When she returned to the bathroom, Nova was unresponsive and floating on her back in the water, she allegedly said.

She then claimed the girl "always puts her face down into the bathwater and takes a huge 'gulp' of water". It is thought this is what happened.

Two days after the incident, WTWO reported Volpatti travelled to the Clay County Sheriff's Office and requested to speak with one of the investigators on the case. She told him she had not been "completely honest" in her previous statements and said she actually put her kids in the tub at 8.30 pm, then went upstairs to get pyjamas for the victim and had been gone about five minutes before she heard one of her sons yelling.

She later changed her story again and said she had been on the phone with a friend from about 8:30 p.m. until 10 p.m. and had left the victim "unattended for more than 30 minutes while she was on the phone in an upstairs bedroom."

Nova was reportedly a premature baby, having been born at just 32 weeks, and lived with several health problems, which included"chronic feeding disorder, emesis, gastronomy tube dependent, global developmental delay, history of gastroschisis, history of prematurity, moderate malnutrition, motility disorder of intestine, oropharyngeal dysphagia, short stature and spinal asymmetry.

Volpatti has since been released from Clay County Jail after posting bond Friday. She pleaded not guilty during the initial hearing on Friday.