A 14-year-old nonverbal girl with autism drowned in a Myrtle Beach hotel pool after spending at least 45 minutes underwater unnoticed. Her guardian, Brittany Neely, allegedly left her and a younger sibling alone at the pool while tending to other children upstairs. Neely faces four counts of unlawful conduct toward a child.
Police responded to the Sandbar Hotel on South Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on April 3 after 14-year-old Neveah Neely was found unresponsive in the pool. The girl, who was unable to swim, had been left in the pool area with a younger sibling by 32-year-old Brittany Neely. Neely was upstairs in a hotel room with children aged 7, 10 and 12, according to a police report obtained by local NBC affiliate WMBF. The group was visiting from North Carolina, though the exact relationship between Neely and Neveah was not specified in the report. Paramedics transported Neveah to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Investigators determined she had been submerged for at least 45 minutes before anyone noticed her distress and pulled her from the water. Following the probe, authorities arrested Neely and booked her into the J. Reuben Long Detention Center on a $100,000 bond, which she posted on Sunday, court records show. Her next court appearance is scheduled for June 5.
