Lafayette mom charged with abuse in drowning

The mother of a 4-year-old boy who drowned in a swimming pool in Thornton has been charged with child abuse.

Twenty-two-year-old Kayla Erin Barnett of Lafayette appeared in court Wednesday to be advised of the felony charge filed against her – negligent child abuse resulting in death.

Her son, Izaiah Lopez, drowned in a pool at the clubhouse of a mobile home community on June 9. A spokeswoman for District Attorney Dave Young, Sue Lindsay, says the boy couldn’t swim and was found face down in the lap pool. She said he wasn’t wearing a life vest.

At the time of the drowning, police said the boy was at the pool with many relatives.