Food delivery driver charged after selling alcohol to teen who later drowned, police say

AUTAUGA COUNTY, Ala. (WSFA/Gray News) - Police in Alabama say a food delivery driver is facing charges for allegedly selling alcohol to a teenage girl who later drowned in a swimming pool.

Manoj Chitta is charged with criminally negligent homicide and selling alcohol to a minor, according to the Prattville Police Department.

Police responded to a report of an unresponsive teenage girl in a home’s swimming pool Wednesday. Officers provided emergency aid, and she was taken to the hospital, where she died from her injuries Friday.

Investigators determined the teenager had consumed “a substantial amount of alcohol” before getting into the pool where she was later found unresponsive.

Police say Chitta, who is in the country on a student visa and working as a delivery driver for an unnamed food delivery service, delivered the alcohol to the teen.

It’s alleged that Chitta failed to verify the teen’s age before delivering the alcohol and that he communicated with her outside of the service’s delivery app.

The investigation is ongoing.