An Oak Bluffs woman who allegedly left a young boy she was babysitting alone in an SUV for several hours is facing a manslaughter charge after the boy died Wednesday. 

The two-year-old boy, of West Tisbury, died at Massachusetts General Hospital at 9:20 p.m. Wednesday after nearly a week in intensive care, the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s office said in court Thursday. The boy was in the care of his babysitter Aimee Cotton last week, before she found him unresponsive in her vehicle. 

Ms. Cotton, 40, allegedly left the boy, who was not identified in court, and a one-year-old girl from a separate family strapped in their car seats for about three hours, according to an arraignment report filed with the court last week. 

Ms. Cotton was originally arraigned on March 14, pleading not guilty to assault and battery on a child with injury and reckless endangerment of a child. A not guilty plea was entered on her behalf during her second arraignment on the manslaughter charge in Edgartown District Court Thursday.

The incident came to police attention last week when Ms. Cotton called 911 at about 1:15 p.m. on March 13. Ms. Cotton told police that the boy was not breathing and turning blue in the back of her vehicle, according to the report from state police.

Judge Benjamin Barnes listens to the arguments.

Ray Ewing

Judge Benjamin Barnes listens to the arguments.

Ray Ewing

Ms. Cotton was performing CPR on the child when first responders arrived. The boy was brought by paramedics to Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and then flown to Massachusetts General Hospital by a medical helicopter. 

The boy, who had no underlying conditions according to a medical exam earlier this year, was diagnosed with hypothermia and was declared brain dead before he ultimately died, according to assistant district attorney Ailey Kirwin. 

The boy’s temperature was at 84 degrees when he arrived at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, about 14 degrees lower than the normal body temperature, she said. 

During initial interviews with police, Ms. Cotton estimated she left the boy buckled in the car seat alone for about 15 minutes, before bringing both children inside her home, police wrote.

Ms. Kirwin said that Ms. Cotton went into great detail about her day with the children, saying they played with toys and ate at her home. 

“She said they played for 45 minutes. She explained that she fed them and they ate their lunch at the kitchen table,” Ms. Kirwin said. 

But after reviewing surveillance footage at Ms. Cotton’s home, officers said it appeared that the children were left in the car, unattended, for about three hours.

Police wrote that the footage showed Ms. Cotton arrived at her home at about 9:20 a.m. Ms. Cotton is seen coming and going from the house in the footage, but police said they never saw the children leaving the vehicle or being brought into the house.

Ms. Cotton did go to the vehicle and changed the boy’s diaper and gave him a yogurt about an hour before he was found unresponsive, Ms. Cotton’s attorney Harrison Barrow said in court Thursday. 

When police confronted Ms. Cotton about the conflicting stories, she allegedly admitted that she did leave the children unsupervised for the whole time while she did several household chores.

Ms. Cotton allegedly told investigators that this was the fifth time she had left the children alone in the vehicle for an extended period. Ms. Cotton had been babysitting the boy since he was four months old and claimed she could see him in the vehicle through her home window, prosecutor said.

The district attorney’s office asked Edgartown District Court judge Benjamin Barnes to impose a $50,000 bail and order Ms. Cotton to stay away from the victim’s family and have no contact with minors aside from her own children. 

Judge Barnes instead set bail at $21,000, and maintained the prior condition that she have no contact with children under five. She also has a curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. and will be required to wear a GPS tracker if she does post bail. 

Ms. Cotton’s attorney argued for a lower bail, saying that Ms. Cotton was cooperative with officers and voluntarily gave them access to her camera footage. 

“The purpose of bail is to ensure her appearance,” Mr. Barrow said. “She’s a Vineyarder, she will show up.” 

Mr. Barrow also contended that the prosecution was too heavily focused on the initial three-hour period where the children were left alone, when she did go to see the boy about an hour before he was found turning blue. 

“I would suggest that the really relevant time period to this...is the time between 12:24 p.m. and approximately 1:15 p.m., when officers say that they can see, on that camera, Ms. Cotton going out, changing [the boy’s] diaper,” he said. 

“There were no issues...and obviously something happens between 12:24 p.m. and the horrifying moment,” he said. 

Ms. Cotton did not speak at all during the 30-minute arraignment. She stood silent, handcuffed, wearing a Nantucket crewneck sweatshirt, and only nodded when court staff spoke to her. 

Ms. Kirwin also moved for the court to impound all of the reports connected to the case. The motion was granted by Judge Barnes. 

A probable cause hearing for Ms. Cotton is scheduled for April 18.