RCMP Major Crimes detectives have charged a 35-year-old Edmonton woman after the suspicious drowning death of a five-year-old girl in Wabamun Lake.

The tragedy happened on Oct. 13.

On Wednesday, RCMP arrested Mary Quinn, a 35-year-old resident of Edmonton. She has been charged with failure to provide necessaries of life

Quinn was taken before a Justice of the Peace and was remanded into custody. She is scheduled in court on Nov. 20, via CCTV, at the Alberta Court of Justice in Stony Plain.

The woman is not related to the victim.

After the drowning tragedy, RCMP issued a press release saying: "At 2:50 p.m. Parkland RCMP received a report of a capsized water craft on Wabamun Lake. RCMP members along with EMS and STARS deployed to assist."

The release did not elaborate.

A subsequent RCMP release said: "RCMP can advise 2 individuals were located from an overturned canoe on Wabamun Lake near the Provincial Campground/ Moonlight Bay."

"A 5-year-old female victim was recovered from the water by bystanders prior to emergency services and police attendance. The second person a 35-year-old female was pulled from the water by other watercraft in the area."

"However the 5-year-old despite lifesaving efforts was pronounced deceased on scene by STARS and EMS."

But the investigation later took a twist.

"RCMP has now learned that the water craft did not capsize and is continuing to treat this fatal incident as a criminal investigation," it said in a release.

RCMP is seeking public assistance from anyone who was in the area between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., who may have been witness to this drowning, or may have drone footage from the area, to contact Parkland RCMP at 825-220-2000.

If you wish to remain anonymous, you can contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), online at www. P3Tips.com or by using the “P3 Tips” app available through the Apple App or Google Play Store. To report crime online, or for access to RCMP news and information, download the Alberta RCMP app through Apple or Google Play.

The lake is 65 km west of Edmonton.

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