Grand jury indicts parents of children swept away in creek

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    GILA COUNTY, AZ (KPHO KTVK ) — A grand jury has indicted the married couple whose two children and niece drowned in floodwaters at Tonto Creek almost exactly a year ago today.

According to Gila County Superior Court, Daniel and Lacey Rawlings were each indicted by a grand jury on three counts of reckless manslaughter and seven counts of child abuse.

The couple is being charged in connection to the deaths of their two children and niece after driving through rushing Tonto Creek floodwaters on the day after Thanksgiving in 2019.
A total of seven children were in the military-style truck when it got swept away in the floodwaters. Daniel, Lacey, and four other children survived. The couple’s daughter, 6-year-old Willa, her little brother Colby, and 5-year-old cousin’s bodies were found in the creek after an extensive search that lasted days.

The Gila County Sheriff’s Office said barricades were up warning drivers of the dangers.

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