St. Paul Mother Pleads Guilty To Drowning 6-Year-Old Daughter

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A 26-year-old St. Paul woman has pleaded guilty to drowning her 6-year-old child in 2014, according to the Ramsey County Attorney's Office.

On Friday morning, Kayla Marie Jones specifically pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in connection to the Dec. 23, 2014 incident.

On the day of the incident, police responded to a call at an apartment on the 1550 block of Maynard Avenue East on the report of a girl drowned in a bathtub. When they arrived, they found Jones standing by a fire truck. She put her hands in the air as if to surrender.

Responding officers also encountered a man identified as Jones' boyfriend. He said he had argued with her earlier and went to a nearby bus stop. She later walked up to him in wet clothes and told him to call 911.

The boyfriend then went back to her apartment, where he saw the girl under water in the bathtub. The girl, Azaria Jones, was taken to Children's Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Kayla Jones later told officers she was trying to "save her from this world."

Jones was found incompetent to stand trial in early January 2015, but that decision was reversed in July 2015.

Jones is expected to receive a prison sentence of 200 months in prison – or just over 16 years – with credit received for her time served at St. Peter's Correctional Facility.

Her sentencing is set for June 22.