Baby found dead in tub; caretaker arrested

SUNNY ISLES BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) -- Police have arrested a caretaker after a baby was left alone in a bath tub and found dead.

According to officials, the caretaker came to South Florida nearly a month ago to care for a 9-month-old identified by the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office as Tendral Meytok Gurung.

Authorities said that after preparing a bath for Gurung Tuesday, Samchue Negi left the baby alone in the water to take a half-hour long phone call.

Gurung was rushed to the hospital, but it was too late. The caretaker was charged with aggravated manslaughter.

Gurung had been rescued by Negi's brother from the Himalayan mountains for life-changing cleft pallet surgery in Virginia. Operation Smile put out a news release in December on the baby. A doctor had performed surgery on her before her trip to South Florida.

A local couple helped sponsor the child and allowed Negi to stay in an apartment they owned in Sunny Isles Beach.

Operation Smile released this statement on Tuesday afternoon: "Baby Tendral touched not only all of us at Operation Smile, but our larger community of staff, volunteers, donors and friends around the world. We all grew close to Tendral and rejoiced in her being with us even for such a brief time. This awful twist of fate makes all of us realize how vitally important it is to use our talents to help others."

Negi's brother, who is a Buddhist monk, was hoping to bring Gurung back to Nepal to show that the baby's cleft pallet is not a sign of evil, as was believed by some.

Negi is being held in jail on $50,000 bond.

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