Katlyn Pineda, girl found unresponsive in Melville Marriott pool, dies; mother Erica Baez charged in death, police say

A Bronx mother was charged with manslaughter in the death of her 7-year-old daughter 16 months after she allegedly returned from having drinks at the Marriott Melville bar to find the girl she had left alone unresponsive in the hotel pool, Suffolk County prosecutors and police said.

Erica Baez, 41, pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child at her arraignment before Acting Supreme Court Justice Steven Pilewski in Riverhead Tuesday. She was remanded to the county jail without bail.

Baez's daughter, Katlyn Pineda, was in a coma since the Jan. 13, 2022 incident until her death earlier this month, on May 1, officials said.

“The alleged actions of this defendant were selfish, senseless and heartless,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said in a statement.

After Baez found Katlyn floating in the pool shortly before 5 that evening, she allegedly took off her socks and shoes and set aside her cellphone before removing the girl from the pool, prosecutors said in a news release. 

Baez’s 5-month-old son was also left alone in the family’s hotel room upstairs, while the mom ate a meal and had two alcoholic drinks, prosecutors said. Baez had checked on the baby once during the hour she spent at the hotel bar and was looking in on Katlyn for a second time when she discovered her unresponsive, prosecutors said.

Baez, whose boyfriend had left the hotel earlier that day to work, had previously been told by hotel staff that she could not leave a child unsupervised in the pool since no lifeguard was on duty, according to the news release.

Following a grand jury indictment May 1, Baez was arrested by Suffolk police with the assistance of the United States Marshals Service New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force in Manhattan Monday evening, police said.

Katlyn was pulseless and in cardiac arrest when members of the Melville Fire Department and Suffolk County Police Department arrived at the Melville Marriot, prosecutors said. Baez told first responders her daughter had only been left alone for five minutes, prosecutors said.

A Suffolk County Police Department EMT performed CPR along with a paramedic before rushing her to the hospital, prosecutors said. A Melville Fire Department paramedic and the EMT were credited with restarting Katlyn’s heart.

Due to brain damage from the lack of oxygen, Katlyn was on a ventilator and feeding tube in the pediatric intensive care unit at Cohen Children's Medical Center in Queens for almost two months before being transferred to a long-term care facility in New Jersey, according to prosecutors. She died May 1 after becoming septic.

“We are going to do everything we can to ensure that justice is served for little Katlyn, whose short life ended too soon,” Tierney said in his statement.

Baez, who has not yet hired an attorney, was represented by Legal Aid at her arraignment Tuesday. She is due back in court May 24.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Michelle Haddad under the supervision of Timothy Gough, chief of the Homicide Bureau, and Raphael Pearl, chief of the Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Bureau.

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.