Sheriff’s Dept. says woman was high when she set her baby in a small float in the river and the child fell off into the current
VISALIA – A Visalia woman was arrested last week after she was determined to be on drugs when her baby fell into the river last summer and nearly drowned.
Alehandra Hernandez
On March 1, Tulare County Sheriff’s detectives arrested Alejandra Hernandez in Goshen. She was arrested on a warrant for child endangerment and being under the influence of a controlled substance during an incident last summer. On the evening of June 26, 2018, deputies were called to the St. John’s River in the 32200 block of Road 212 in Woodlake for a possible drowning of a 7-month-old baby.
Deputies were told the infant slipped off a floating device and was swept away by the current and undertow of the river. The infant was found, given first aid and taken to a local hospital by ambulance for life threatening injuries. The child survived.
Detectives were called out to the scene to follow up. After interviewing multiple witnesses and Hernandez, the investigation revealed that Hernandez used poor judgment on that day by putting her infant into the river on a floating device, which would be typically used in a standard swimming pool.
Hernandez also became uncooperative with detectives, so investigators obtained a urine sample from her, which was sent to the Department of Justice. The results indicated she was under the influence of a controlled substance during the time of the incident. The case was then submitted to the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office for review.
Hernandez was booked at the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department Pre-Trial Facility. Her bail was set at $50,000. Anyone with information about this case is encouraged to contact Detective Rick Morley at 559-733-6218 or anonymous by calling or texting 559-725-4194 or through email at [email protected].
