Woman Charged With Child Neglect After Near Drowning

A woman from Shullsburg has been charged with neglecting a 1-year old child in 2019 in which he nearly drowned. 32 year old Tricia Wakenight is charged in Lafayette County Circuit Court with neglecting a child causing great bodily harm, a felony. Her next court hearing is set for March 9th. Reports say Wakenight and her five children were staying with a friend in rural Darlington on August 15, 2019. Wakenight told investigators that she was folding laundry with one of her children when another child, came in and said that the youngest child “was in water.” Wakenight said she went outside to check and found the 1-year-old boy floating in the half-full pool. She said he was “limp” and “purple” and worried he was dead. Wakenight and another adult attempted CPR until emergency responders arrived and the boy was taken to a local hospital, then airlifted to University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics in Madison.