Nance Rivera

A Taunton, New Jersey, grandmother who was warned to be more watchful with her young granddaughter has been charged with two counts of reckless endangerment in the toddler’s October 21, 2011 accidental drowning death. Rivera's daughter doesn't believe it was accidental.

Nance Rivera, 52, was just out of jail, living with her daughter and helping care for her granddaughter in October 2011 when 18 month-old Aylah Reed died during a bath, police said. Rivera’s own mother, the dead child’s great-grandmother, said she warned Rivera not to leave the child alone in the tub, but she often found Nance Rivera on the phone downstairs while the 19-month-old played alone in a tub upstairs.

Rivera has a 12 page rap sheet, mainly composed of drug crimes. Arrested in November 2012, after 13 months of investigation, the Latina grandmother faces up to 30 months in prison if convicted.

Pamela Shank Raymond

Pamela Shank Raymond, 54, is in prison, awaiting trial on charges of second-degree murder and cruelty to a child in the 2010 death of infant Warren Bailey, her daughter's young son. She has pleaded not guilty. According to a police affidavit filed with Lamoille (Vermont) Superior Court, Raymond, a nurse, told police that she placed one of her husband’s antidepressant pills in the baby’s mouth, watched it dissolve, and washed it down with a few ounces of formula. She told police she drugged the infant so he wouldn’t wake up and disturb her husband while she was at a doctor’s appointment.

Raymond, who has twice lost her nursing license, was previously investigated in the suspected poisoning of another grandson who survived. Her court appointed attorney will claim not guilty by mental defect once the charges come to trial.

Debra Ann Slacks

On November 13, 2012 at approximately 6:15 am the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office responded to 4059 Jordan Road regarding a 5-week old child believed to be deceased. The parents of the child awakened to find the child not in her bassinet in their bedroom. The mother of the baby went to the living room of the home to find the baby in between the cushions of the couch with the baby’s grandmother on the couch asleep with the child.

A death investigation was launched by the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office. According to the arrest warrant of 50-year old Debra Ann Slacks, investigators obtained documented evidence and recorded statements which implicated Ms. Slacks as the person who took responsibility for her 5-week old grandchild after knowingly consuming alcoholic beverages. Ms. Slacks, while entrusted with the child’s care, fell asleep with her grandchild on the couch allowing the infant to slip from her arms and slide behind the cushion of the couch which resulted in her death.

Ms. Slacks was arrested for unlawful neglect of a child and transported to the Greenville County Detention Center where she awaits a bond hearing. If convicted, Ms. Slacks could face up to 10 years in jail.

Terry Borgia

Terry Borgia was charged with first-degree murder in the death of her grandson DeAngelo Tobia at about 6:30-7 a.m. Jan. 11, 2010, in the bathtub of her Clinton Township apartment. No motive has been put forth in the case.

Borgia lived with two of her daughters and four year-old grandson in Clinton, Michigan. An initial confession and guilty plea have been withdrawn, and a mistrial declared in June 2012. Borgia is currently awaiting a second trial. She faces a life sentence without possibility of parole. Update: After four trials, Borgia was convicted in March 2013 of Felony Murder. She was sentenced to Life With the Possibility of Parole.

Rebecca Jane Elrod

Albertville police have the grandmother of a 2-year-old child in custody after the child was struck by a vehicle and died Wednesday, October 17, 2012. Rebecca Jane Elrod, 52, is being held at the Albertville City Jail and is expected to be charged with criminally negligent homicide, a Class C felony.

Brayden Lukas Daniel was struck by a Ford Explorer driven by his grandmother about 3:30 p.m. while outside a residence on Diane Avenue. The child was treated at the scene by medics and then rushed to Marshall Medical Center South in Boaz, where he died a short time later.

During the investigation, it was discovered the child's grandmother allegedly was under the influence of prescription medication at the time of the accident. Elrod was taken into custody at the scene and charged with driving under the influence. Elrod is in the Albertville City Jail and is expected to be charged with criminally negligent homicide, a Class C felony.

Elrod had been arrested for DUI in 2003 and 2007, and after a court referred program charges were dropped. In August 2010, state troopers arrested Elrod for DUI of alcohol and a controlled substance and driving on the wrong side of the highway. In June 2012 charges were dropped with conditions.

Selena Denise Rivera

A DeKalb County grandmother was jailed without bond Monday, September 10, 2012, for allegedly beating her 3-year-old granddaughter to death. Selena Denise Rivera, 42, told police she was in bed reading the Bible when she noticed Neveah Pinckney’s eyes rolling back and a white foam coming from her nose. Rivera was the only one who cared for the child, and she immediately called 911 the evening of Aug. 21. An hour later, Neveah was pronounced dead at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston.

However, the child’s 8-year-old sister, whose name was not released, told police Thursday she watched her grandmother “beating the victim with a silver pipe on the day she died and shoved the victim in a closet."

Rivera was denied bond at her first court appearance Monday.

Shirley Ree Smith

In the fall of 1996, Shirley Ree Smith moved to Van Nuys, California, from Illinois to help her daughter Tomeka care for newborn Etzel, 14-month-old Yondale and 3-year-old Yolanda. On the night of Etzel's death, Smith was sleeping in the living room of her sister's apartment with the three grandchildren sleeping on the sofa and love seat. The baby slid onto the carpeted floor at one point, Smith said, but showed no signs of injury when she resettled him. When she later got up to use the bathroom, she found him lifeless and summoned paramedics.

Smith was arrested for murdering Etzel by violent shaking and sentenced in 1997 to 15 years to life. In 2006, Smith's guilty verdict was set aside on appeal and Smith went free after serving a total of ten years. By early 2011, Smith's appeal was overturned and authorities sought to have her returned to California. Gov. Jerry Brown commuted Smith's sentence to time served in April 2012. Shirley Ree Smith now lives with her daughter in Illinois.