Charges are being filed against two Berkshire County educators in the death of a middle school student during a summer field trip last year.
The District Attorney's Office says Meghan Braley and Linda Whitacre face charges including involuntary manslaughter for the death of twelve-year-old Giver Essien, who drowned during a trip to Beartown State Forest in Great Barrington while participating in Pittsfield Public Schools' 21st Century summer program.
According to investigators, trip organizers did not realize Essien was missing until after the other students got out of the water and were being loaded back onto the bus.
DA Timothy Shugrue said Braley and Whitacre were responsible for "a series of preventable and reckless oversights" that "directly contributed" to the child's death.