Texas Rangers allege that Justin Kidwell left his daughter in a bathtub with the water running for 29 minutes without checking on her while he played video games.
A Texas man is charged with murder after his infant daughter drowned in the bathtub, say police.
Justin Kidwell, 20, allegedly told police that he put his 8-month-old daughter Lexus Sky Cora Kidwell in the bathtub at his home in Burkburnett on May 14 and then went to get a headset to speak with a friend, according to a criminal complaint obtained by Inside Edition Digital.
Police said he told them he returned to find his daughter unresponsive, claiming at first that he left the child alone for 30 seconds and later saying it could have been as much as five minutes, according to the complaint.
Texas Rangers investigating the case said that computer records show Kidwell began speaking with a friend on Discord at 10:53 p.m. and the 911 call was placed by his friend 29 minutes later at 11:22 p.m., according to the complaint.
Kidwell also allegedly left the water running in the tub for those 29 minutes, according to the complaint.
During that time, Kidwell allegedly played the game Apex Legends with his friend, according to the complaint.
"After a thorough investigation involving collaboration between the Burkburnett Police Department and the Texas Rangers, it was determined that the child. sadly left unattended in the tub with the water running, lost her life in a heartbreaking incident," Cpt. Shane Culp of the Burnburnett Police Department said in a statement. "The forensic examination of electronic devices, notably the father's computer, revealed a timeline that indicated the father, Justin Kidwell, who was the only adult home at the time, was engrossed in video games while his child was left unsupervised."
Kidwell was also on probation at the time of the incident following a child endangerment conviction in 2021 when a gummy bear containing THC that he left in a car was consumed by a toddler, according to court records.
Jail records show that police arrested Kidwell after his daughter's death for allegedly violating the conditions of his probation.
He is now charged with felony murder after being booked in the Wichita County Jail on March 4, where he is being held on $500,000 bail, according to jail records
Kidwell has yet to enter a plea and does not have a lawyer at this time.
