Parents charged after toddler drowns in neighbor's pool

Police were called to the Bittern Place house that Brigitte McCarthy shared with Robert Trella and her three children on a report of a missing child. Eventually, the toddler was found unresponsive in the neighbor's pool.

TOMS RIVER -- The parents of a 2-year-old girl who drowned in a neighbor's pool have been charged in the girl's death, Ocean County authorities said on Thursday.

Robert Trella, 41, and Brigitte McCarthy, 31, were charged with putting the life of their daughter at risk when on Aug. 17, she was allowed to wander from her Berkeley Township home - where drugs were found - and into a neighbor's backyard where she drowned in the pool, said Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato and Berkeley Township police Chief Karen DiMichele.

Police were called to the Bittern Place house that McCarthy shared with Trella and her three children on a report of a missing child. Eventually, the toddler was found unresponsive in the neighbor's pool.

Authorities continue to investigate death of 2-year-old found in neighbor's pool

When police arrived at the house, they found marijuana and heroin inside, Coronato said. And while in the presence of investigators, McCarthy directed her 9-year-old daughter to retrieve a tin containing suspected cocaine, he said.

Trella tried to dispose of the marijuana, Coronato said.

Witnesses told investigators that the toddler was seen wandering unsupervised around the neighborhood on other occasions, the prosecutor said. And authorities learned that the 9-year-old daughter took over many of the care duties for the baby, he said.

Trella was charged Wednesday with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, drug possession and tampering with evidence.

When McCarthy was arrested on Thursday, she was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and drug possession.

Superior Court Judge James Blaney set bail for both of them at $200,000 each and ordered them to have no contact with the children.