West Valley City's Major Crimes Unit is investigating the drowning of a 1-year-old girl Monday.
Police seized various items from the master bathroom, where it is believed Justice Sieverts drowned after she was left unattended in a bathtub containing about 8 inches of water, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in 3rd District Court Friday.
Court documents say that Sieverts' mother asked a juvenile living in the apartment, near 1200 West and 3400 South, to give the child a bath just before 8:30 p.m.
The juvenile later told police that she filled the bathtub and left the baby alone while she went in another room for about 10 minutes, the records say. Upon returning, she found the girl face-down in the water and unresponsive.
A neighbor called 911 after a nurse was seen performing CPR on the child in the hallway at the apartment building.
When medical personnel arrived, Sieverts "was cold to the touch, with no vital signs and her hands were blue," the court documents say. The child was taken to Primary Children's Medical Center where it was determined she had died from drowning.
An investigation ensued after the juvenile reported she had not closed the doors to the bathroom or the master bedroom after leaving the child unattended, but when she returned to the bathtub to check on Sieverts, both doors were closed.
Among the items taken by police in a search of the apartment were various towels and washcloths, toys found in the bathtub, cleansers and shampoo bottles and water samples from the bath.
E-mail: wleonard@desnews.com