Irving mom jailed after 3 children drown

A 30-year-old mother of five was arrested Friday in the drownings of three of her children in an apartment complex pool last month.

Patricia Denise Allen was in the Irving Jail on Friday, facing a charge of injury to a child, a news release from Irving police said. Bail was set at $50,000.

One charge would include three victims. The charge is a second-degree felony, punishable by two to 20 years in prison.

On June 24, emergency crews responded to a 911 call about a drowning at an apartment complex pool in the 2300 block of North MacArthur Boulevard.

A maintenance man and others were trying to resuscitate two children. A third child was still in the pool, and a firefighter pulled that child out of murky water, police said previously.

August Smith, 10, was pronounced dead later that day. Her brothers Treshawn Smith, 9, and Anthony Smith, 11, died June 28 at a Dallas children’s hospital.

Allen also had two younger children with her at the pool. A witness told investigators that Allen was tending to her 4-year-old son while texting and talking on her phone. She did not notice when her older children did not resurface, the arrest warrant affidavit says.

Neither Allen nor her children knew how to swim, and none of the children were wearing flotation devices, the affidavit says.

Mitch Mitchell, 817-390-7752

This story was originally published July 10, 2015 at 9:59 PM with the headline "Irving mom jailed after 3 children drown."