A Baldwin County grand jury returned a five-count indictment against a Summerdale father in connection with the May 2014 drowning death of his 11-month-old son, prosecutors confirmed in September of that year.
John Albert McCord III, 37, of Cape Fear Loop, was charged with reckless manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the death of his infant son, John Henry Watson McCord. Three additional counts were drug-related: chemical endangerment of a child, possession of a controlled substance and use or possession of drug paraphernalia. The indictment was handed up as the case moved from Summerdale into the Baldwin County court system, with proceedings centered in Bay Minette.
What investigators described
According to the Summerdale Police Department, McCord left the 11-month-old and his young stepson alone in a bathtub at the family’s Cape Fear Loop home on May 12, 2014. The tub held roughly eight to 10 inches of water when the infant slipped and fell. A substance believed to be methamphetamine was reported found on the master bedroom floor near the bathroom.
The child was pronounced dead May 13 at the University of South Alabama Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Mobile. Police arrested the boy’s father on May 24.
A police officer testified at a July hearing that McCord’s stepson, who was 4 years old at the time, called out to McCord three or four times after his stepbrother fell in the bathtub, but that McCord did not respond. The boy said he then went to find his stepfather in the living area of the home.
Two homicide charges, one difficult question for a jury
The indictment placed two different homicide theories before a potential jury. Baldwin County Assistant District Attorney ChaLea Tisdale explained the legal distinction between the two counts.
Reckless manslaughter, she said, occurs when a person who is aware of the risks of their conduct consciously disregards those risks and causes another person’s death. Criminally negligent homicide, by contrast, applies when a person is not aware of the risks, or fails to perceive them, and causes a death through criminal negligence.
“At this point, he has been indicted for both,” Tisdale said. “Therefore, we would expect both to be presented to the jury along with the explanations as to what both charges are. And the jury would then determine what charges to convict or not to convict on.”
The defense response
McCord’s attorney, Patrick Prendergast, argued that his client could not be found guilty of both reckless manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, saying a jury would have the option of convicting on one of the charges or acquitting on both.
“We will try it as it’s indicted and let the jury hear all the facts,” Prendergast said. “It’s our position he’s not guilty of either one.”
The indictment marked a significant step in a case that had drawn attention across south Baldwin County since the spring. With the grand jury’s action, the matter was set to proceed toward trial in Bay Minette, where the competing homicide counts and the accompanying drug charges would ultimately be weighed by a jury.