Warnings ‘ignored’ before 12-year-old drowned on school trip, Berkshire DA Timothy Shugrue says

Warnings ‘ignored’ before 12-year-old drowned on school trip, Berkshire DA Timothy Shugrue says

By Amanda Burke, The Berkshire Eagle 15 hrs ago

District Attorney Timothy Shugrue holds up a copy of Christian’s Law during a news conference to talk about the indictment of Meghan Braley and Linda Whitacre on three criminal charges each, including an involuntary manslaughter felony, in the 2024 drowning of 12-year-old Earl Giver Essien.
STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

Editor’s note: This story contains details that may be upsetting to some readers.

PITTSFIELD — Multiple children told an adult a 12-year-student had slipped under the water during a school-sponsored field trip last summer, but their warnings went unheeded and the child drowned, officials said Thursday.

It was one of a cascading series of failures Berkshire County District Attorney Timothy Shugrue said preceded the death of Earl Giver Essien on a July 17 outing with the Pittsfield School District’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers summer enrichment program.

“A series of preventable and reckless oversights directly contributed to the unintentional death of a child,” he said.

During a news conference Thursday morning at his downtown Pittsfield offices, Shugrue outlined the investigation that resulted in the indictment of two educators in connection with Giver’s death: Meghan Braley, 29, site supervisor and former Herberg Middle School teacher who he said did not heed the children’s alarm, and Linda Whitacre, 67, the program coordinator, who was not present during the field trip.

Both face charges that include felony manslaughter by wanton and reckless conduct.
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‘I wish I could have saved her.’ Confusion and devastation followed the apparent drowning of a Pittsfield middle school student

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“They may not have intended this outcome, but their actions, or rather lack thereof, caused this incident,” Shugrue said.

The missteps started before the children set out for Beartown State Forest in Monterey. The trip involved a planned dip in Benedict Pond, but Shugrue said proper measures were not taken to ensure students were adept swimmers.

Under state law, there are multiple rules camps must adhere to before bringing minors to swim at a beach — and Shugrue said virtually none of them were followed.

The students should have received a swim proficiency test, and been confined to areas of the lake that match their skills with access to flotation devices. The regulations also recommend that children are paired off in a “buddy system,” checking on their partner every 15 minutes.

There was no mention of swimming on the permission slip that was sent to parents, Shugrue said, and staff were not given “orientation plans” for aquatic activities. Giver’s parents told investigators their daughter could not swim.

“Alarmingly, children who could not swim were allowed into the water, and life jackets or flotation devices were not readily available to staff,” he said.

Moreover, he said over 35 students attended the field trip, even though the permit pulled for use of the state forest listed a student group of 25. In all, there were six adult staff, three student interns and one student lifeguard present during the swimming portion of the program, according to the DA’s office.

The trip fell behind schedule as the day wore on, Shugrue said. Initially, just 15 students were slated to swim at a time across two groups, one after the other.

But Braley, whose LinkedIn lists lifeguard experience, allowed all the students to access the water at once at about 12:45 p.m., Shugrue said. The district hired one lifeguard, a high school student, to work that day, but Shugrue said a group of swimmers that size should have had two lifeguards.

Investigators determined the lifeguard was not criminally responsible for Giver’s death, Shugrue said. The lifeguard was not provided with an elevated observation point to observe the swimmers, and was tasked with guarding more students than was proper.

“He did everything he was supposed to do, but unfortunately, they put him in an untenable position,” Shugrue said.

Investigators obtained a photo of Giver in the water at 12:48 p.m. It was the last photo taken on the trip that showed the student.

At least three to four students witnessed Giver waving her arms, then slip underwater, Shugrue said.

“[They went] to Ms. Braley multiple times, and indicated to her that Giver went under,” he said. “There was no search done, and it was kind of laughed off, is what they said.”
Two educators indicted on manslaughter charges in drowning of 12-year-old Pittsfield student last summer in Monterey
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Two educators indicted on manslaughter charges in drowning of 12-year-old Pittsfield student last summer in Monterey

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The students began exiting the water at 1:15 p.m and boarded the bus between 1:30 and 1:42 p.m., he said. A head count was done on the bus and Giver wasn’t there.

“They said ‘We told you, she’s in the water,'” Shugrue said.

Before checking the water, he said adults first checked the bathrooms, dressing areas and other places around the pond.

Shugrue said no adults associated with the camp program dialed 911.

A call was placed to Giver’s father at about 1:30 p.m. to see if the 12-year-old had somehow returned to Pittsfield, a proposition Shugrue called “ludicrous.”

“There was no way you could physically get that child from Beartown State Forest to Pittsfield to her home in that period of time,” he said.

A local lawyer, Ira Kaplan, who Shugrue said happened to be there with family that day, noticed the discord and called 911 at about 1:48 p.m., according to the DA’s office. A child called 911 around the same time and passed the phone to a teacher.

At this point, two physical education teachers entered the water, which he described as murky with weeds at the bottom, Shugrue said. One of them, Jennifer Roccabruna, swam in a grid pattern across the pond swimming area and found Giver. He commended her efforts on scene and her more recent endeavor to offer swim lessons to area youth.

Roccabruna pulled the child to the surface, and others joined to help bring her to shore. First responders arrived and began extensive efforts to resuscitate the girl, but it was too late.

The state police investigation revealed Giver was unaccounted for approximately 70 minutes.

Shugrue highlighted Christian’s Law, which outlines detailed safety provisions summer camps must implement before allowing children to swim at a beach such as Benedict Pond. It was signed by Gov. Deval Patrick in 2012 after a 4-year-old child drowned at a municipal day camp in Sturbridge, and the Department of Public Health enacted regulations that went into effect about five years later.

Whitacre, who was the grant coordinator overseeing the 21st Century Learning program, told investigators she was unaware of the regulations, according to Shugrue.

“If these rules and procedures were followed, this child would not be dead today,” he said. “There’s just no question in my mind.”

Braley declined to speak to investigators. Her defense lawyer, Joshua Hochberg, told The Eagle that she feels a “profound sadness” for Giver’s loss.

“As the DA said, she didn’t plan for this to happen,” Hochberg said. “It’s an incredibly sad event that weighs on her.”

A Berkshire County grand jury handed up indictments Wednesday charging Braley and Whitacre with involuntary manslaughter — a felony that punishes an unlawful and unintentional killing due to wanton and reckless conduct — as well as misdemeanor counts of permitting injury to a child and reckless endangerment of a child.

Whitacre is scheduled to be arraigned in Berkshire Superior Court on July 14, and Braley’s arraignment is set to take place in the same courthouse on Aug. 4.

During the recent heat wave, Shugrue said his office has received reports of “unsafe conditions” at local lakes and pools. He called on caregivers to stay vigilant.

Drowning is the leading cause of death for children in the U.S. ages 1 to 4, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. After motor vehicle crashes, it is the second leading cause of unintentional injury death for children ages 5 to 14.

“I urge all caregivers and programs to understand the risk,” he said. “Even strong swimmers must be watched. Drowning is silent and it happens quickly. Watch your children, protect your children in your care.”
Kristen Rapkowicz speaking at press conference

Giver had moved to Pittsfield from Ghana months before her death, and was known as smart, funny and kind with ties to a close group of friends. Her family remains in the area, said Kristen Rapkowicz, a victim witness advocate with the DA’s office.

As the anniversary of Giver’s death approaches, her family continues to grapple with the loss. Still, Shugrue said they are “very forgiving people, but they’ve lost their daughter, and they just want to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

“This is not going to bring their child back,” Rapkowicz said, “but they understand that, and they want someone held accountable for her death.”