Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A Provo mother charged in the bathtub drowning of her 14-month-old son says it was an accident that could have happened to any parent.
January Krebs, 28, also denied placing the victim's 2-year-old brother in the tub and then leaving the room for five minutes while getting towels from a dryer, as reported by police.
"I never put my children in the bathtub, either one," Krebs told The Salt Lake Tribune on Friday. "And I was away less than two minutes getting a towel."
Krebs said that on Feb. 25, she filled the tub, undressed the two boys and then closed the bathroom door, leaving them to run around in the house.
"I thought I had locked the door because I had always locked the door," she said.
But her 2-year-old son, Zackery Matthew Krebs, managed to pull the latch-type handle and push his potty-training toilet to the side of the tub, where he used it as a footstool to climb into the water, she said.
The younger boy, Spencer James Krebs, also tried to climb into the tub, but "fell in head first," Krebs said.
She said she found him face down in water with his feet hanging over the side of the tub.
She said she woke her boyfriend, called 911 and he started CPR, following instructions from the emergency operator.
The boy was flown to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, and then to Primary Children's Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead the next day. He remained on life-support another day so doctors could harvest his organs.
"He did save lives through this tragedy," Krebs said.
Krebs said the criminal charges -- which she learned about from reading a newspaper story -- came as a surprise.
"It was devastating," she said.
Krebs is charged with negligent homicide or reckless endangerment -- a single Class A misdemeanor charge with two options, allowing a potential jury more leeway in its decision.
Krebs is to appear in 4th District Court on July 18 at 8:30 a.m.
------
Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
