Kathy Pinna
Friday, April 9, 1999
A 28-year-old woman who drowned her 2-year-old son and then tried to kill herself has been given a 5- to 20-year sentence on her guilty plea to voluntary manslaughter and child abuse charges.
Melissa Jean Aris-Swilley originally faced a murder charge that carried a minimum life prison sentence and 20 years in prison before eligibility for parole.
Aris-Swilley and her son had been staying at the Budget Suites on Boulder Highway for almost a week when the woman banged on a neighbor's door to report that her son, who was a month shy of 3 years old, had drowned in the bathtub.
Police said Aris-Swilley, who had moved to Las Vegas from Birchrun, Mich., a week before the incident, had attempted to kill herself by taking an overdose of over-the-counter sleeping aids.
The woman was despondent over the shooting of her husband in Michigan six months before, Metro homicide detectives said. The husband survived and Aris-Swilley was not a suspect in that shooting.
- Las Vegas Sun - Friday, April 9, 1999.
Melissa Jean Aris-Swilley originally faced a murder charge that carried a minimum life prison sentence and 20 years in prison before eligibility for parole.
Aris-Swilley and her son had been staying at the Budget Suites on Boulder Highway for almost a week when the woman banged on a neighbor's door to report that her son, who was a month shy of 3 years old, had drowned in the bathtub.
Police said Aris-Swilley, who had moved to Las Vegas from Birchrun, Mich., a week before the incident, had attempted to kill herself by taking an overdose of over-the-counter sleeping aids.
The woman was despondent over the shooting of her husband in Michigan six months before, Metro homicide detectives said. The husband survived and Aris-Swilley was not a suspect in that shooting.
- Las Vegas Sun - Friday, April 9, 1999.
