Editor’s Note: This article contains details about an alleged homicide that may be distressing to some readers.
A 37-year-old mother from Montgomery County, Maryland, Mackenzie Colgan, has been charged with first-degree murder following the drowning death of her 3-month-old daughter on Sunday.
According to charging documents, Colgan informed police that she woke up with a plan to “end everything,” intending to take her own life along with the lives of her husband and two children. Later that morning, she allegedly drowned her infant daughter in the bathtub.
Police received a call around 12:12 p.m. reporting a drowning at a home on the 7300 block of Summit Avenue in Chevy Chase. Upon arrival, officers discovered the unresponsive baby in an upstairs bathroom. The child was transported to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Investigators revealed that Colgan took the baby from family members in the living room around 11:40 a.m., saying she was going to give her a bath. Approximately 20 minutes later, Colgan returned to inform the child’s father that the baby had died. The father rushed upstairs, found the baby unresponsive in a water-filled tub, and attempted CPR while instructing Colgan to call 911.
Colgan was detained at the scene and later spoke with investigators. She admitted to filling the bathtub, placing her daughter in a baby bath seat, and holding her head underwater until she was certain the baby had died. Colgan also stated that after the incident, she climbed onto a second-story ledge intending to jump but decided against it and returned inside to inform her husband of her actions.
The infant’s cause and manner of death will be determined following an autopsy scheduled for Monday.
Colgan appeared in court on Monday, where her bond hearing was postponed to allow for a mental health evaluation. She remains charged with first-degree murder.
