8-year-old Washington girl found dead floating in overflowing bathtub after neighbor reports water leak; mother faces serious charges

A shocking incident emerged from Washington state, where a mother was charged after her 8-year-old daughter was found dead in an overflowing bathtub in her Spokane home on Sunday, September 20, 2026. Her mother Travionna C. Johnson was arrested on multiple felony charges. Johnson told police that her child, identified in court records by the initials K.J.J., was in second grade at Logan Elementary School and had special needs, Spokesman-Review and KXLY reported, citing court documents. Following the death of her child, who was nonverbal and had epilepsy, she faces first- and second-degree manslaughter and first-degree abandonment of a dependent person.

During her first appearance in court on Monday (September 21, 2026) in Spokane County Superior Court, Court Commissioner Tami Chavez set her bond at $500,000, the amount Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Samantha Wright requested. “This was a serious, violent crime,” Wright said, as quoted by The Spokesman-Review.

An investigation was launched into the incident after a resident in the apartment below Johnson’s home reported a water leak. According to court documents, firefighters responding to the scene entered inside her apartment through the window and found the child unresponsive, floating in an overflowing bathtub, two news outlets reported.


Court documents revealed that Johnson allegedly told police that she left her daughter home alone when she went to work on Sunday morning and texted her sister seeking her help for her child’s care in her absence. But the mother allegedly said that she was also aware that the text had not gone through because she did not have cell service, as reported by The Spokesman-Review.


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