CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM)– An elderly woman drowned at her Cumberland County home while her caretaker was sleeping, according to the charges filed.

Folake Sowami, 44, of Harrisburg, is accused of falling asleep when she was supposed to looking after 71-year-old Rosinha Pereira who drowned in an in-ground hot tub at her home in Silver Spring Township in October, the criminal complaint filed by police reads.

An autopsy from a coroner’s office ruled Pereira’s death to be from freshwater drowning and the manner was determined to be homicide from neglect of a care-dependent person, according to the complaint.

Sowami was an aid employed by Shadai Home Health Services. According to the complaint, Sowami was not allowed to sleep at her job since it required 24/7 care.

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Police say that Pereira was seen on a video recording from the home getting into the hot tub alone and then falling minutes later just before 1:50 a.m. Police say that Sowami could then be seen pulling Pereira from the tub almost two hours later just after 3:30 a.m.

Sowami claimed that when she got Pereira out of the tub, she performed CPR for at least a half hour. She told police that Pereira went to use the bathroom, but never saw her come out after an hour.

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When she was asked if she was sleeping, Sowami denied it multiple times, according to the criminal complaint. Eventually, Sowami said “Maybe I dosed off,” and allegedly admitted that she never heard Pereira come out of a bathroom, the complaint reads.

There also were differences in Sowami’s story when she was interviewed multiple times by police, the complaint notes.

Sowami faces a felony charge of neglect of care of a dependant person and misdemeanor charges of involuntary manslaughter and recklessly endangering another person.

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