The tragic death of Annabel Mackey: Woman arrested for 'murder' of 2-yr-old girl found floating in pond
The woman, in her 40s, was questioned by police when two-year-old Annabel Mackey was discovered unconscious
HAMPSHIRE, ENGLAND: A woman arrested on suspicion of murdering a two-year-old child at a rural pond has been detained under the Mental Health Act.
The woman, in her 40s, was questioned by police when the two-year-old Annabel Mackey was discovered unconscious at the spot. The child later died despite getting medical aid.
The unnamed woman was freed from detention earlier, but police announced that she is now being held under the Mental Health Act as concerns were raised about her unstable mental state, as reported by Daily Mail.
Annabel's neighbors pay homage to blonde-haired toddler
Annabel's neighbors paid homage to the blonde-haired toddler, saying they are "shocked to the core" by her death. Her parents have been identified as Peter and Alice Mackey, who reside in a spacious £600,000 semi-detached house on a quiet lane in the Hampshire village of Kingsley.
Their house is about a half mile from Kingsley Pond, where Annabel was discovered unresponsive at 5 pm on Sunday, September 10.
Locals stated they heard an adult crying "help me, help me" by the pond and then observed a victim being loaded into an ambulance wrapped in blankets.
A married father-of-one, who lives on the same street as the Mackeys, said Annabel enjoyed gazing at their Halloween decorations and walking around the neighborhood with her mother.
The middle-aged man said, "The first we knew of it was when the police car pulled up. Within 20 minutes of the first car pulling up, this place was flooded with vans and police. This place was jammed."
Police ask for footage from neighboring homes
The worried dad added, "The whole place was cordoned off and then basically we were asked by CID if we had any footage on our camera, which we do... There's nothing, we can't see the little one, the family, nothing. We were quite worried at the same time, we've got a six year old girl."
"But we're not ignoring the fact a two-year-old has lost her life; it's absolutely terrible. We've met her, we always said hello, she used to say hi. At Halloween we get a lot of decorations around the house for our little one and Annabel used to come in and look at the decorations," said the distraught man about the mysterious death of Annabel.
He added, "She was gorgeous, she was a beautiful little girl. At the moment there's a little bit of panic on our side, not knowing who that person [arrested] is."
The neighbor stated that he had never seen police at the property or on their street before. He also stated that he "didn't hear anything."
He added, "The pond is nearly half a mile away from here; it's a shocker. We moved here simply because it's idyllic. We knew it was safe. This has shocked us to the core."
The man also revealed that they haven't told their daughter about the tragedy. "We've made sure our daughter is not aware. When Annabel popped round, our daughter would pop out and speak to her," he said.
Alice Mackey, Annabel's privately educated mother, is thought to be a teacher who attended Oxford Brookes University and the University of Roehampton in London.
Mrs Mackey attended Queenswood, a girls-only private school in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, where boarding tuition are £42,000 per year.
In 2015, she married Peter Mackey and had Annabel a few years later.
