Brevard County

2 women arrested after 6-month-old found in plastic storage container dies, deputies say

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office said it arrested two women in connection with the death of a six-month-old that happened in March.

Deputies arrested Tanya Galvin, 41, and Ricky Nicole Tubbs, 25.

Investigators said on March 1, a deputy noticed three children between the ages of two and four unsupervised walking on Caroline Street in Cape Canaveral.

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Deputies said they were able to obtain information of where the children lived and found Galvin asleep with the door open.

Galvin told deputies that she didn’t know where the children were and assumed they were with Tubbs.

While doing a welfare check, deputies said the two-year-old was wet and smelled of urine.

Galvin gave deputies permission to go to the children’s room to find clothing for the children.

While attempting to find those items, deputies said they discovered an infant, nude and unresponsive in a plastic storage container.

The infant was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The infant was later identified as six-month-old Scorpio Sharp. He was taken to the Brevard County Medical Examiner’s Office where an autopsy found that he died as a result of drowning.

An investigation revealed that the six-month-old and another child were placed in foster care by the Department of Children and Families under the supervision of Tubbs and her boyfriend, Mario Joseph.

Tubbs and Joseph were the only adults authorized to watch the children as Tubbs told DCF that they were the only adults living at the house, deputies said.

Investigators said on the evening before the infant was found, Tubbs left the house and left the children with Joseph. Tubbs was supposed to return to the house before Joseph left for work the next morning, however she did not return on time, which made Joseph leave the children, who were alive at the time, with Galvin.

Joseph contacted Tubbs and told her to return home immediately so that the children would not be in Galvin’s care for an extended period of time, deputies said.

Investigators said Tubbs had consumed alcohol and narcotics during the evening and did not return to the house, which violated the order of DCF.

Officials said they found a bathtub with standing water and the clothing that the infant was last wearing next to the bathtub, which was soaked in water.

Investigators said while under the care of Galvin, the infant came in contact with the water, which resulted in his death. The infant was then left in a plastic container in the children’s room.

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Both women were charged after warrants were issued for their arrests.

Deputies said Tubbs is charged with neglect and Galvin is charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child and violation of probation.

Galvin is being held at the Brevard County Jail on a $25,000, while Tubbs is being held at the Volusia County fail with a $25,000 bail, awaiting extradition to Brevard County.

Katlyn Brieskorn, WFTV.com

Katlyn Brieskorn is a Digital Assignment Editor at WFTV. She joined Channel 9 in July 2019.