Bane calls arrest unjust; disputes police report
Tanya Bane, the Lexington mother who appeared in court today, Oct. 22, in connection with the drowning of her 13-month-old son Peter Stearns in a bathtub, disputes a police report linking her to marijuana use at the time of the accident.
Officer Nathan Kesterson reported that he could smell what he believed to be marijuana on Bane as she spoke to him at the Carilion Stonewall Jackson Hospital emergency room, where she had taken the infant Oct. 9. Kesterson also said he found two marijuana joints and marijuana hidden in a stuffed teddy bear at Bane’s home.
But Bane denies that she was doing drugs that day, saying that she had smoked a cigarette beforehand, but not marijuana. She said last Wednesday that the marijuana did not belong to her and that she was not aware that it was in her home.
In an emotional interview with The Rockbridge Report on Oct. 17, Bane’s voice cracked as she talked about her son.
“I miss him a lot,” she said.
On Tuesday, the day after she attended her son’s funeral, Bane was arrested and charged with felony child neglect and involuntary manslaughter. She was released from the Rockbridge Regional Jail that night on a $2,500 bond.
Bane confirmed that her 2-year-old daughter has been taken from her by social services workers. A spokeswoman for Rockbridge Area Social Services said the agency cannot comment on cases.
In the interview with The Rockbridge Report, Bane said she was scared. She hasn’t been able to use the bathtub upstairs since the drowning. She hasn’t gotten much sleep because she has nightmares about her son’s death, she said.
Bane said she was giving her two children a bath at her home on McCorkle Drive when she noticed that she was missing clean towels. She ran downstairs to the laundry room and returned to find her daughter standing at the top of the stairs, dripping wet.
Once she realized what had happened, she found her son lying face down in the bathtub, unresponsive. Her daughter had turned on the water when she was away, she said.
She said she performed CPR on the infant for five to 10 minutes, then took him to the hospital emergency room, calling 911 on the way.
She will be arraigned Monday. She said she cannot afford an attorney. At the time of her arraignment, she will be offered a court-appointed attorney if she cannot afford one.
Bruce Patterson, clerk of the circuit court, said Bane has been involved in many cases in both the District and Circuit courts.
“We’re very familiar with her,” he said.
Four years ago, Bane was convicted on charges of reckless driving for striking Daniel E. Martin, a local minister, while he was on his riding mower on South River Road. Martin died after the accident. Bane was fined $500 and her license suspended for 90 days, according to court documents.
The father of her son, Peter G. Stearns, is being held at the Rockbridge Regional jail on charges of having stolen property with the intent to sell and distribute and larceny. Police arrested him on Oct. 1. Stearns posted bond and was able to attend the funeral of his son at Harrison Funeral Home.
Bane said none of her family came to the funeral, but the family of Stearns, with whom she said she is engaged to be married, has been very supportive. But she worries about her 2-year-old daughter, whose location is not known to her.
“I know she’s not going to be the same girl,” she said.
She called the charges unjustified and said they were a complete surprise to her.
Bane donated the infant’s organs and tissues to LifeNet Donor Memorial Service in Virginia Beach. She said that she hopes her son will save another child’s life.
After the arrest, Lexington Police Chief Steve Crowder said, he was advised by Commonwealth’s Attorney Bucky Joyce not to talk about the case. Joyce would not comment.
Determination of the cause of the child’s death awaits a toxicology report that could take three months, according to the Roanoke Medical Examiner’s Office.
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