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Background: The 900 block of East Schiller Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Google Maps). Inset: Sy’vir Hill (KYW/YouTube).
A Pennsylvania woman is facing charges after allegedly leaving three young children unattended in a bathtub, an incident that tragically resulted in the drowning of a one-year-old boy.
Apalosnia Watson, aged 39, has been accused of murder and child endangerment, according to court documents examined by Law&Crime. These charges come approximately nine months following the death of 1-year-old Sy’vir Hill.
The incident occurred on April 15, 2025, while Watson was caring for Sy’vir at her residence on the 900 block of East Schiller Street in Philadelphia, as detailed in an arrest warrant reviewed by The Philadelphia Inquirer. Watson was Sy’vir’s foster mother and was also responsible for several other children in the household.
Authorities report that Watson placed a 4-year-old, a 2-year-old, and Sy’vir in a bathtub while she was heating food in a microwave located downstairs. When the microwave signaled that the food was ready, she allegedly left the children unsupervised to retrieve it.
As Watson descended the stairs, she reportedly heard splashing sounds and returned to find Sy’vir face down in the water, according to the warrant. Watson attempted to perform CPR and promptly called 911 for assistance.
Police arrived at the scene to find paramedics performing CPR on the unresponsive child. Watson reportedly told the law enforcement officers that “it happened so fast” while repeating the phrase, “I don’t want to go to jail.”
The child was pronounced dead.
The summer and fall of 2025 came and went, though, without charges. Sy’vir’s biological mother, Sharee Collins, filed a civil lawsuit in October, accusing two child welfare agencies of placing her child in a crowded home. Collins’ attorney, A.J. Thomson, told Philadelphia CBS affiliate KYW that he obtained documents showing that the foster parent had four foster kids all under the age of 5 in her home, as well as other child relatives, and she was thus “at her max.”
The lawyer was also stunned by the alleged behavior of the foster parent.
“What food was that important that you would leave three kids that age in the tub by themselves?” Thomson rhetorically asked while speaking with the local TV station’s investigative reporter. “If there’s a case that we should prioritize in our society, it’s the death of a 1-year-old child. I felt that it was not being prioritized.”
A visibly distraught Collins said in her own interview that while she was upset she didn’t have custody of her son, she trusted he would be placed in a safe home. “He didn’t deserve that, he didn’t,” she said of his death. “I wouldn’t wish it on nobody else.”
In December, the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Sy’vir’s death a homicide as a result of drowning. Thomson contended that it was their lawsuit that spurred the authorities to act.
According to the lawsuit, which was reviewed by Law&Crime, Watson expressed confusion about how Sy’vir could have drowned “because he knew how to walk, and he did not have any issues with his balance and knew how to get in and out of the tub alone.”
A spokesperson for the medical examiner’s office told KYW that investigations vary in duration due to many factors and, “Above all, our priority is to conduct thorough and accurate investigations.”
After reviewing the child’s death, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services ruled there were no “deficiencies in compliance with statutes, regulations and services” and submitted no recommendations for change.
Watson was arrested on Jan. 13, 2026, court records show. She was scheduled to undergo a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, with another court date set for March 4.