Overview:
Prosecutors arrested four employees of the Leonardo Da Vinci Institute on charges of involuntary manslaughter, three weeks after 11-year-old Haitian student Stephora Anne-Mircie Joseph drowned during a school outing on Nov.14. The arrests follow growing pressure from the family, Haitian officials, and human rights groups demanding clarity after weeks of conflicting accounts and missing information.
FORT-LIBERTÉ, Haiti — The Dominican Republic’s public prosecutor’s office arrested four employees of the Leonardo Da Vinci Institute in connection with the drowning death of 11-year-old Haitian student Stephora Anne-Mircie Joseph, nearly three weeks after she died on a school trip.
The arrests on Dec. 5 came after weeks of silence, confusion, and pressure from human rights groups in both Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Prosecutors charged four school employees with involuntary manslaughter, accusing them of “extreme negligence” during the Nov. 14 school trip. Those arrested include Yris del Carmen Reyes Adames, the school’s administrative director; Gisela González, general coordinator; Francisca Josefina Tavarez Vélez, guidance counselor; and Vilma Altagracia Vargas Morel, secondary school coordinator.
Prosecutors say the Leonardo Da Vinci Institute brought 87 students to Hacienda Los Caballos with only three adult chaperones and no safety gear—no life jackets, flotation devices, or checks to see if students could swim. Investigators also say the school had no safety plan in place for the outing. Surveillance video shows little to no adult supervision near the pool where 11-year-old Joseph drowned, according to authorities.
Stephora was known for her bright personality, love of soccer, and ability to speak several languages. Her mother, Lovelie Raphaël Joseph, said she first received a phone call saying her daughter “wasn’t feeling well,” then a WhatsApp message telling her to go to the ranch. When she arrived, no students or staff were present—only police and a school lawyer. A police officer later told her that her daughter had died.
Two weeks after Stephora Joseph, 11, drowned during a school outing, Dominican officials face mounting pressure as her family files a negligence complaint
A preliminary autopsy from the Ministry of Public Health noted mechanical asphyxiation, meaning her lungs filled with water, but did not explain how long she was underwater or why no adult intervened. No full timeline has been provided, and the school has not returned Stephora’s belongings to her family.
Amid growing outrage, Attorney General Yeni Berenice Reynoso ordered the case to move faster on Nov. 28. She named top prosecutors Wilson Camacho and Olga Diná Llaverías to lead the investigation. The Public Ministry also asked the Ministry of Education to inspect the Leonardo Da Vinci Institute for safety issues.
In Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s Transitional Council called on Dominican officials to explain what happened. “We need to know what really happened,” the council said in a statement.
The four school employees are expected to appear before a judge in Santiago as prosecutors present the evidence. For many in both countries, the case has become a test of whether the death of a Haitian child will be taken seriously and investigated fully.
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