Two women charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with a child’s drowning in Great Barrington last summer appeared in court on Monday afternoon for their arraignments.
Linda Whitacre, 68, and Meghan Braley, 30, appeared in Berkshire County Superior Court for brief hearings as Judge John Agostini entered not guilty pleas for each.
Attorneys for both women requested to waive a reading of the charges and the prosecution did not delve into the details of the case.
The prosecution did not ask for the women to be held on bail.
Joshua Hochberg, an attorney for Braley, said that she lives in West Virginia and agreed that his client would keep the court informed if her address or contact information changes as part of her conditions of release.
Whitacre worked as a program coordinator for a Pittsfield Public School summer program when 12-year-old Giver Essien died while on a field trip on July 17, 2024. Braley worked as a site supervisor at the time for Herberg Middle School’s 21st Century summer program.
The Pittsfield Public School website listed Whitacre as an interim 21st Century Grant coordinator on Monday.
The two women were indicted on three counts: involuntary manslaughter, permitting serious bodily injury of a child and reckless endangerment of a child.
Warnings ‘laughed off’
Berkshire County District Attorney Timothy Shugrue announced the indictments in late June at a press conference, and said the charges were brought due to the two women’s “reckless conduct” related to the field trip.
Essien could not swim, and field trip staff were warned that she could not swim, yet she was allowed to enter the waters of Benedict Pond at the Beartown State Forest, Shugrue previously said.
A photograph showed Giver in the water at 12:48 p.m. — although students warned the field trip staff she could not swim, Shugrue said.
Those warnings were “laughed off” by Braley, Shugrue said.
When students were loaded on the bus between 1:30 p.m. and 1:42 p.m., staff realized Giver was missing. By 1:58 p.m., she was pulled out of the water, Shugrue said.
An obituary for Giver identified her as “EarlGiver” and said she died days before her 13th birthday.
“Alarmingly, children who could not swim were allowed into the water, and life jackets or flotation devices were not available to staff nor the children,” Shugrue said.
The investigation revealed that at least three children alerted a supervisor that Giver was unable to swim and that she’d gone underwater, Shugrue said.
Braley worked as a site supervisor on the day of the field trip; Whitacre did not physically attend. Authorities still brought charges against Whitacre due to her supervisory role.
“They were in charge of this program,” Shugrue said of Whitacre. “They set up the whole event.”
A search for Giver
The child went unaccounted for 70 minutes after the group of 35 children returned to their bus after going swimming.
A search for Giver followed in the dressing rooms, the bathrooms and outside of the pond area. Then a call was placed to Giver’s father to ask if she’d returned to Pittsfield — “Which was ludicrous,” Shugrue said.
“There was no way you could physically get that child from Beartown State Forest to Pittsfield to her home in that period of time,” Shugrue said.
Eventually, another educator from the Pittsfield School Department conducted a search in the lake by swimming in a grid pattern until she found Giver in the water.
First responders were on scene by that point and performed CPR for more than half an hour, Shugrue said.
There were six adult staff, three student interns and a student lifeguard at the field trip, according to district attorney spokesperson Julia Sabourin.
The district attorney noted that Giver’s parents signed a permission slip for the field trip, but that it did not mention any swimming planned. It also did not include any type of safety plan.
A preventable tragedy
Shugrue said that drowning is the leading cause of death for children and that laws — such as Christian’s Law and other Department of Public Health regulations — exist and require certified instructors, swim tests, personal flotation devices, group assignments based on swimming ability, and systems to identify non-swimmers.
A permit pulled for the field trip stated that there would be 25 students, but more than 35 attended, the district attorney’s office said. Although there was a single lifeguard, there needed to be at least two, given the size of the group, Shugrue said.
Shortly before Giver’s death, Shugrue said he addressed water safety with other city officials.
“Less than one month later, this tragedy occurred,” Shugrue said. “It could have been prevented. Giver should still be alive.”
Both women’s next hearings were scheduled for Dec. 8.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
