25-year-old Seattle mother faces manslaughter charge after her 2-year-old drowned
Jul 23, 2026, 2:57 PM
Police lights. (MyNorthwest file photo)
(MyNorthwest file photo)
A 25‑year‑old Seattle mother, Nakeeya Arbogast, is facing a manslaughter charge after prosecutors said her 2‑year‑old son with Down syndrome drowned in a bathtub after being left alone for an extended period of time.
King County prosecutors said the boy, identified as K.O.A., was completely physically helpless. They said he could not crawl or walk, could not sit up on his own without a supportive vest, and was entirely dependent on others for his care.
According to court documents, Arbogast placed K.O.A. face‑down in a bathtub, turned the water on, and then left the bathroom.
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Seattle mother allegedly gave different accounts of incident
When officers arrived and asked what happened, Arbogast allegedly gave differing accounts of the incident. She, allegedly, first told police the tub was full when she came back and found K.O.A. floating and not breathing.
Prosecutors said she later told her roommate that the water was overflowing when she pulled the child out. Prosecutors also said she gave conflicting estimates of how long he was left unsupervised — at times saying two to three minutes, and at other times five minutes. However, forensic testing by Seattle Police Department Crime Scene Investigators painted a different picture, suggesting the boy was likely alone in the water for more than 14 minutes, far longer than Arbogast’s estimates.
Prosecutors said Arbogast acknowledged that she knew it was unsafe to leave her son unattended in the bathtub. She also reportedly admitted that the family previously used a special bath chair for K.O.A., but said it had been left behind at a prior apartment because it became moldy. She allegedly told investigators she planned to buy a replacement, and also claimed they had stopped using the chair because it was uncomfortable for the child.
Prosecutors pointed to those admissions, along with their position that any competent parent knows never to leave a child alone in a bathtub, to argue that Arbogast understood the danger and the risk of death, even if she now maintains she did not intend to kill her son.
Arbogast is held on $1 million bail and is due back in court next week.
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