Police said the 17-month-old boys were found injured inside a south Richmond apartment.
RICHMOND, Va. — A 21-year-old Richmond mother has been charged with felony murder and child neglect after her 17-month-old twin sons were found with apparent drowning injuries in an apartment bathtub, police said.
The charges against Amaya Dixon followed a weeks-long investigation into the April 17 incident in the 1000 block of German School Road on the city’s south side. Both boys were taken to a hospital after officers arrived. One died that night, and the other died days later, police said. Authorities have released few details about what happened before the children were found.
Richmond police said officers were called at about 8:39 p.m. April 17 for a report of two injured children. First responders entered the apartment and found the twin boys with what investigators described as apparent drowning injuries while in a bathtub. Emergency medical workers took both children to a local hospital. Police did not publicly release the boys’ names. The department later said Dixon, of Richmond, was arrested May 7 and charged with two counts of felony murder and two counts of child neglect tied to the deaths. Local reports said the charges came after a grand jury indictment. Police have not released a motive, and officials have not said whether anyone else was inside the home when the children were injured.
The case began as a death investigation after the first child died and deepened when the second child also died. Early police updates described the injuries as apparent drowning injuries and did not announce charges at once. Detectives with the Richmond Police Department’s Major Crimes Unit continued the investigation before Dixon’s arrest nearly three weeks later. The timing left several questions unresolved publicly, including who called for help, how long the children had been in the bathtub and whether police recovered any physical evidence from the apartment. Investigators have not released a full timeline of the minutes before officers arrived. They also have not said what Dixon told detectives, whether she has an attorney or whether she entered any plea in court.
The apartment is in a residential area off German School Road, a corridor on Richmond’s south side lined with apartment buildings, homes and nearby businesses. Police and rescue crews responded there on a Friday night, then continued to update the case as the second child’s condition worsened. The deaths drew attention across central Virginia because the victims were twins and because both children suffered injuries in the same bathtub. Police later identified Dixon as the boys’ mother. Officials did not describe the children’s broader family situation or say whether child welfare agencies had previous contact with the household. No public record reviewed in initial reports named another suspect in the drowning deaths.
Court records cited in local coverage said Dixon was already facing unrelated criminal charges in neighboring Chesterfield County when the twins 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 unrelated cases had any connection to the deaths of the children. The earlier charges remained separate from the Richmond homicide case, which centers on the events inside the German School Road apartment.
The murder charges mark the start of a criminal court process that could include arraignment, bond hearings, preliminary motions and presentation of evidence. Felony murder cases generally allow prosecutors to allege that a death happened during the commission of another felony. In this case, police said Dixon also faces two child neglect counts, one for each child. 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 in court.
Police said the Major Crimes Unit remains in charge of the investigation. The department named Detective J. Pittman as the investigator seeking additional information. 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. Local television stations reported that officers initially responded to a report of injured children rather than a confirmed drowning. That first call led police to the apartment, where the boys were found and rushed for emergency treatment. The case shifted from medical emergency to homicide investigation after both children died and detectives reviewed the circumstances.
As of May 13, Dixon was 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 account of what happened inside the apartment. The next public milestones are expected in court, where prosecutors will outline the charges and investigators may disclose more details through filings or testimony.
Author note: Last updated May 13, 2026.