Police said the 17-month-old boys were found injured inside a south Richmond apartment.
RICHMOND, Va. — A 21-year-old Richmond mother was charged May 7 with felony murder and child neglect after her 17-month-old twin sons suffered apparent drowning injuries in a bathtub at a south Richmond apartment, police said.
The charges against Amaya Dixon followed a weeks-long investigation into the April 17 emergency call at an apartment in the 1000 block of German School Road. Both boys were taken to a hospital after officers arrived. One died that night, and police later confirmed the second child had died by April 21. Authorities have not released the boys’ names or a full account of what happened before they were found.
Richmond police said officers were called about 8:39 p.m. April 17 for a report of two injured children. First responders entered the apartment and found the twin boys in the bathtub. Investigators described the injuries as “apparent drowning injuries,” police said in public updates. Emergency medical workers took both children to a local hospital, where one child was pronounced dead. The second child remained alive for a period after the first death, but later died from his injuries. Local reports differed on whether the second death occurred Monday night or was confirmed Tuesday, so the public timeline remains limited to the police updates released after the call.
Dixon, of Richmond, was arrested May 7 and charged with two counts of felony murder and two counts of child neglect, one count for each child. Local reports said the charges followed a grand jury indictment. Police have not released a motive. Officials also have not said who called for help, how long the children had been in the bathtub, whether anyone else was inside the apartment or what Dixon told detectives. No public update has named another suspect in the deaths. Dixon has been charged, but the case has not been tried, and the charges are accusations unless proven in court.
The case began as an emergency response to injured children and became a homicide investigation after both boys died. Early updates from police did not announce charges. Detectives with the Richmond Police Department’s Major Crimes Unit continued the investigation for nearly three weeks before Dixon’s arrest. The apartment is on German School Road, a south Richmond corridor with apartment buildings, homes and nearby businesses. The deaths drew attention across central Virginia because the victims were twins, both were toddlers and both were found with injuries in the same bathtub.
Court records cited in local coverage said Dixon was already facing unrelated criminal charges in Chesterfield County when her sons died. Those cases stemmed from December 2025 and included financial and property allegations. Reported charges included credit card theft, credit card fraud, grand larceny, obtaining money by false pretenses, receiving goods or services through fraud, financial exploitation of vulnerable adults and possession of stolen property with intent to sell. Authorities have not said those earlier cases had any connection to the deaths of the children. The Richmond homicide case centers on the events inside the German School Road apartment on April 17.
The murder charges mark the start of a criminal court process that could include arraignment, bond arguments, motions and later hearings on evidence. Prosecutors had not publicly released a detailed account of the alleged neglect or the legal theory behind the felony murder counts. Investigators also had not announced autopsy findings, final medical examiner conclusions or a completed police report. Those records could become central evidence as the case moves forward. Police said Major Crimes Detective J. Pittman is the investigator assigned to seek additional information in the case.
Public updates from police have stayed brief, focusing on the call time, the location, the children’s injuries, the hospital deaths and Dixon’s arrest. The limited record has left several key facts unknown, including the minutes before officers arrived and whether police recovered physical evidence from the apartment. Local television stations first reported the case as a drowning investigation, then updated their coverage after the second child died and after Dixon was arrested. The children’s broader family situation has not been described in public police statements.
As of Thursday, Dixon remained charged but not convicted in the deaths of her twin sons. Richmond police had not released the children’s names, a motive or a full public timeline. The next public milestones are expected in court, where prosecutors may outline more details through filings or testimony.
Author note: Last updated May 14, 2026.