Russellville woman charged with manslaughter in drowning of toddler

RUSSELLVILLE, Ky. – A Russellville woman is charged with second-degree manslaughter and tampering with evidence in connection with the drowning of a little girl last summer.

According to an indictment filed Nov. 1 in Logan County Circuit Court, Lindsey N. Dover, 30, of Russellville, is charged with second-degree manslaughter in the July 10 drowning death of a 2-year-old. The indictment says Dover does not have the child properly supervised, which resulted in the child drowning.

Dover also faces one count of tampering with physical evidence. The indictment says Dover deleted more than 1,200 text messages from her cellphone between July 10 and July 26 before authorities could execute a search warrant.

WNKY News 40 original report >

On Wednesday, July 10, at 11:11 a.m., the Logan County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call that a small child had left a home on Pleasant Drive.

Sheriff Stephen Stratton says preliminary reports indicate the child went missing in a cornfield. While searching the area, first responders found the two-year-old’s body in a small body of water.

First responders performed CPR on the child at the scene before transporting the child to Med Center Health in Russellville. Emergency room personnel were able to stabilize the child and the child was flown to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in critical condition. The child later died on the afternoon of July 10th. The cause of death was determined to be drowning.

The arrest warrant was executed for Dover on November 4th and she was later booked into the Logan County Jail on Tuesday, November 5th. The same day, Dover was released on $5,000 bail.

According to the indictment, Dover must make a commitment not to supervise or care for children outside of her own, to adhere to “any DCBS care plan or prevention plan,” and to “not use drugs or alcohol,” among other things.

Dover is charged with second-degree manslaughter and tampering with evidence.