SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — The mother of a 1-year-old girl found dead Thursday night in a pond in Sandy Springs has been charged with felony murder, according to police.
In a statement released Friday, authorities said they responded to a reported disturbance Thursday at a parking deck on Concourse Parkway and found Asia Calabrese-Lewis “having some type of episode.” Sgt. Matthew McGinnis told WSB-TV that the girl’s father later arrived and asked where the child was.
“At that time, the mother made the proclamation, ‘At the bottom of the pool,’” he said.
Authorities checked the area and, hours later, found Nirvana Oliver in a pond. They immediately began giving her CPR and rushed her to a children’s hospital, where she was later pronounced dead, according to police and WSB.
An autopsy will be conducted to determine how Nirvana died.
“Whether it’s an actual drowning or something else, we will have to wait on that from the (medical examiner) to determine exactly what went on there,” McGinnis told WSB.
In the meantime, police arrested Calabrese-Lewis on charges of first-degree cruelty to children and felony murder.
Family members told WSB that Nirvana was 22 months old. She would have turned 2 on June 18.
Nirvana’s aunt, Kelsia Rene Oliver, told WSB that she was loved “and very well taken care of.”
“My brother is the best dad and he loved her with every ounce in his body,” Kelsia Rene Oliver said.
Another family member, Kianah Nicole Cardona, told the news station that Nirvana’s mother also loved her.
“Mental health is a deadly sniper that crept up on us in the most tragic way,” she said, according to WSB.
Family members started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for Nirvana’s funeral, WSB reported.