Mumford swim teacher charged with involuntary manslaughter in student's drowning death
FOX 2 - The swimming teacher at Mumford High School's pool has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office announced Tuesday.
The charges come after the February drowning death of a 15-year-old student of Kareem Sigler, 47. He now faces a 15-year maximum penalty for the felony, under the theory of gross negligence.
Mumford HS swim teacher charged with involuntary manslaughter
A student's drowning in February has led to a felony charge today.
Da'Sean Blanding was a student in Sigler's class at Mumford. At 11:20 a.m. on Feb. 24, it is alleged that sometime after the class started, Sigler was in another room when a student notified him that Blanding was at the bottom of the pool. Sigler dove into the water and, with the help of other students, pulled the victim out.
Students called 911 while Sigler rendered medical assistance to Blanding. At 12:15 p.m., medics arrived at the scene and transported the victim to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
It is alleged that Defendant Sigler was grossly negligent by failing to supervise his student, Mr. Blanding, which resulted in his death.
RELATED: More questions than answers for family of Mumford student that drowned in school pool
"We are alleging that the evidence in this case shows that the death of Mr. Blanding could have been prevented. While swimming pools are certainly desirable, they can also be death traps without proper, necessary, and needed supervision and preparedness," Prosecutor Kym Worthy said.
Da'Sean Blanding
The defendant will be arraigned in 36th District Court after 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 13.
The family of Da'Sean Blanding has asked the school district to thoroughly investigate his death, and say they will be fighting to revise Michigan's anti-bullying law to protect individuals with learning disabilities.
RELATED: Teen drowned in Mumford High pool had learning disability, was bullied, says mom
Da'Sean was learning disabled and his mother, Christina Blanding, says he had been bullied at a former school before briefly being homeschooled before switching to Mumford. She believes the bullying continued at Mumford and that it may have played a role in his death on Feb. 24.