John Jefferson
Main: Hailynn Volpatti (Clay County Justice Center). Inset: Nova Bryant (WRTV).
A 25-year-old mother in Indiana was arrested five months after she allegedly left her 21-month-old special needs foster child unattended in a bathtub where the child drowned. Hailynn Volpatti was taken into custody last week and charged with one count of felony neglect of a dependent resulting in death in the May 2024 drowning of young Nova Bryant, records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
The incident took place on May 21, 2024, while the victim was in the sole care of Volpatti, a probable cause affidavit obtained by Indianapolis NBC affiliate WTHR reported. Volpatti’s husband was reportedly at work at the time.
On the evening of May 21, officers with the Brazil, Indiana, Police Department responded to Volpatti’s home in an apartment complex in the 400 block of Franklin Court, about 70 miles west of Indianapolis. Upon arriving at the scene, first responders immediately began performing lifesaving measures on Nova and were able to get a “faint pulse” from the girl.
Emergency medical personnel transported Nova to a hospital for treatment. Due to the severity of her condition, Nova was transferred to Riley Hospital in Indianapolis for more specialized treatment. Unfortunately, the child succumbed to her condition and was pronounced dead on June 16, 2024.
In an interview with police, Volpatti initially said that she put Nova in the bathtub with her two sons, both age 4, while she left to get a drink, police reportedly wrote in the affidavit. Volpatti allegedly said that when she returned to the bathroom, Nova was unresponsive and floating on her back in the water.
Volpatti reportedly claimed that when she bathed the toddler, Nova “always puts her face down into the bathwater and takes a huge ‘gulp’ of water,” police wrote.
Nova had reportedly been born prematurely at 32 weeks and lived with multiple health problems. Her medical history included “chronic feeding disorder, emesis, gastrostomy tube dependent, global developmental delay, history of gastroschisis, history of prematurity, moderate malnutrition, motility disorder of intestine, oropharyngeal dysphagia, short stature and spinal asymmetry,” the affidavit reportedly states.
Terre Haute NBC affiliate WTWO reported that two days after the incident, Volpatti traveled to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office and requested to speak with one of the investigators on the case. When she met with a detective, Volpatti allegedly admitted that she hadn’t been “completely honest” with police in her previous statements.
Volpatti reportedly explained that after she put the kids in the tub at about 8:30 p.m., she went upstairs to get pajamas for the victim and was gone for about five minutes before she heard one of her sons yell and found Nova floating in the tub.
However, over the course of the conversation, Volpatti allegedly revealed that she was actually on the phone with a friend from 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. and left the victim “unattended for more than 30 minutes while she was on the phone in an upstairs bedroom.”
Volpatti made her initial appearance in Clay County Court on Oct. 25 and was ordered held on $75,000 bond.
Nova’s biological parents, Celena Conkright and Kevin Bryant, told Indianapolis ABC affiliate WRTV that they hope Volpatti goes to prison for failing to take care of their daughter.
“I hope Nova gets justice the way she should because she deserves it … I want her to serve time,” Conkright told the station, speaking about Volpatti. “She shouldn’t have had my daughter in the first place, but she also shouldn’t have left the room. That’s parenting 101.”
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