June 26, 2011: This photo provided by Candella Matta shows Marie Joseph, foreground, holding family friend Dalianys Melendez, daughter of Candella Matta, in the public swimming pool at Lafayette Park in Fall River, Mass. (AP/Candella Matta)
FALL RIVER, Mass. – Two Massachusetts State employees are to be charged in connection with the June death of woman whose body went unnoticed at the bottom of a public pool for more than 48 hours.
Bristol County, Mass., District Attorney's office said Wednesday that former Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation Regional Director Brian Shanahan and former District Manager Jeff Carter will be charged with reckless endangerment of a child, The Boston Globe reported.
The decision to bring charges came after Fall River District Court Judge Brian Gilligan ruled Wednesday that probable cause existed that the two had committed a crime.
An arraignment date has not yet been set.
The charges relate to the bizarre and tragic death of 36-year-old Marie Joseph, who drowned on June 26 after going down the slide in the deep end of Fall River's Vietnam Veterans Memorial Pool in Fall River, Mass.
Shanahan and Carter resigned over the incident.
Fall River inspectors visited the pool in the two days after the drowning, but Joseph's body still went unnoticed.
The inspectors noted in a report that the pool was "cloudy" but allowed it to remain open.
Joseph's body was discovered by teenagers who sneaked into the pool after hours June 28.
Joseph was with a nine-year-old neighbor at the time of her death. The boy said he told lifeguards that Joseph did not resurface after going down the slide, but the lifeguards did not investigate.
A report issued by the Bristol County District Attorney's office found no lifeguards at fault in the incident and prosecutors have said they could not find any proof that the lifeguards were informed about the drowning.
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