North Bay caregiver found not guilty in woman's bathtub drowning

A North Bay woman has been found not guilty of failing to provide the necessities of life in the drowning of a 54-year-old woman in the bathtub at a local care home.

Mallorie Makara worked as a caregiver at the assisted living facility for people with complex needs and on the morning of July 9, 2018, one of the residents she had left to soak in the tub for about 10 minutes drowned.

She was charged February 2019, but just received the verdict Monday morning.

Defence attorney Andrew Perrin told CTV News in a phone interview Makara has been off work since the incident.

The defence elected to have a judge-alone trial in the extremely sensitive case, Perrin said.

In a judgment hearing held at the North Bay courthouse and over Zoom on Monday, Justice David Nadeau read the agreed statement of facts and his decision.

At issue was the established bathing protocol of the resident – whose identity is protected under a publication ban.

"Ms. Makara made an inadvertent error in judgment in that time span with tragic consequence, however, I have not been satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt there was a marked departure from the conduct a reasonable caregiver in the same circumstances," Nadeau said as he delivered his verdict.

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Perrin said "lots of telling information" about the system came out during the trial and he hopes it will help improve the situation for others.

"What will be done about the system as it stands?" he said.

For right now, the not guilty verdict is a relief for his client, who he said cared deeply for the deceased.