Two-year-old dies in Nashville after being in care of babysitter

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- (WZTV) -- A Nashville mother shares why she doesn't think her baby's death is an accident.

Shameka Smith says her daughter ended up at the hospital and died days after being in a babysitter's care.

Smith watches a video of her daughter, Anari Smith, on Sunday evening. It brings a smile to her face which is hard to do since a week ago. According to the mother, she went to work before noon on November 13 and left her two-year-old in the care of a woman.

"She was staying with me, I was helping her out. She had mentioned to me that she was a little depressed because her daughter is in state custody. In my mind, I didn't think anything of when she was saying it,” explains Smith.

Smith says she spoke to the sitter throughout the afternoon. Later, around 8 p.m., she found out that an accident reportedly happened in her bathtub with her child.

Smith says, "I was told that my daughter was dead by a neighbor. 'She fell asleep in the tub' is what the girl said, that she only left her alone for a few minutes. Why would you leave her in the tub by herself at all? She's a 2-year-old for crying out loud.”

The mother says she rushed to Vanderbilt where her daughter was taken. She says doctors stabilized Anari but she died on Thursday from organ failure.