The first mother should receive serious jail time. This type of thing shows there are some people who just should NOT have children.
I raised six kids. When they were younger, and this was before wireless phones, if my phone rang or someone came to the door, I just ignored them. I NEVER stepped out of that bathroom when my smaller children were in the tub. NEVER!
As for the case of the 13yo, I feel sorry for them, and I do not think they should be charged. It was a tragic accident, nothing less. At 13 they just don't get it. They don't realize that their inattention can cost the infants life.
When my oldest daughter was 15, she was keeping an eye on her two little sisters so I could paint HER bedroom. She put our 1 yo on the bathroom counter in front of the mirror in the bathroom and did her hair. She knew she was NOT supposed to do this, as the little one tended to arch backward and if you weren't in back of her, she could land on the tiled floor. I had just walked past the bathroom with a tray of paint, and told my daughter to immediately take her off the counter.
You guessed it, my older daughter stepped aside for just a second to look at her make up closer to the mirror. When I heard that loud thump, I immediately KNEW what happened and ran in there.
Thank God my daughter had put a little pony tale in the little one's hair, I truly believe it saved her life. Of course, she did stop breathing and I had to do CPR until the paramedics arrived. I then had to take her to the hospital for a series of tests. My older daughter came with me and held her little sister as she knew what happened was her fault. Plus, the little one had to have xrays of a variety of sorts.
It's a good thing my older daughter came along, LOL, as I wasn't able to go in to be with her so she wouldn't be scared, as we hadn't yet told ANYONE we were 'expecting' another additon to the family.
Some lessons are learned the hard way. It's just too bad in both these instances, it cost a poor baby's life.
fran