HOLLAND, Michigan — A Holland mother will spend up to 15 years in prison after being charged with involuntary manslaughter in the drowning death of her 11-month-old child over a year ago.
Elizabeth May Robinson was staying at the Holland Women's Rescue Mission when the initial incident happened on Aug. 9, 2022.
Police say she left her child Rosalyn in the bathtub alone for nearly three minutes when the child drowned and was found unresponsive.
"There's not a day goes by that I don't miss her," Robinson told the judge while crying in court.
When first responders arrived, they found someone already performing CPR on the child. Officers took over CPR and rushed the child to other first responders. Medics transferred the child to a local hospital.
The child was put on life support and died two weeks later on Aug. 23, 2022.
During the court hearing Tuesday, the prosecuting attorney asked for "significant consequences" for Rosalyn's death.
Robinson pled no-contest in June and was sentenced in court on Tuesday. Robinson faces a minimum of 18 months up to a maximum of 180 months in prison with credit for 40 days in jail.
"She's remorseful, she's very sorry for her actions," her lawyer told the court.
The audio of two 911 calls shows how quickly bystanders worked to help Rosalyn.
Court documents obtained by 13 ON YOUR SIDE revealed Robinson was bathing her two daughters in the tub. She told detectives she removed her older daughter from the bathtub after she started coughing and left Rosalyn in the tub alone.
She told detectives she was struggling to put the older daughter's diaper on and this went on for about 10 minutes. She was on the phone with her boyfriend, who is incarcerated at the Ottawa County Jail, she told detectives.
Court documents show she admitted to detectives she was out of the bathroom and out of view of the child in the tub.
Robinson told the judge she wants to be able to see her older daughter after she serves her time.
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