Dominican authorities charge school staff with involuntary manslaughter in death of Stephora Anne-Mircie Joseph
Santiago, Dominican Republic – December 8, 2025 The Dominican Public Ministry has arrested four staff members from Instituto Leonardo Da Vinci in Santiago after the drowning death of 11-year-old Haitian honor student Stephora Anne-Mircie Joseph during an unauthorized school outing that violated a 15-year-old nationwide ban on aquatic excursions.
Stephora, a sixth-grader sixth-grader known for her perfect grades and radiant smile, drowned on November 14 in an unsupervised swimming pool at Hacienda Los Caballos, a recreational ranch in Gurabo. The official autopsy confirmed death by mechanical asphyxia due to drowning.
What was meant to be a celebratory reward trip for top-performing students turned into heartbreak. Nearly 87 children were taken to the ranch, but there were no lifeguards on duty, no restricted pool access, no rescue equipment, and no first-aid kits. Adult supervision was woefully inadequate.
The outing directly violated a 2009 Ministry of Education directive that explicitly prohibits all school-sponsored aquatic activities following a string of similar tragedies nationwide. That ban has remained in force ever since — until Leonardo Da Vinci ignored it.
Stephora’s mother, Lovelie Joseph Raphael, received a call that her daughter was “vomiting and not feeling well.” When she rushed to a local clinic, staff told her to wait. Hours later, she was directed to the National Institute of Forensic Sciences in Santo Domingo to identify and retrieve her child’s body.
“I trusted the school with my baby,” a devastated Mrs. Joseph Raphael told reporters outside the courthouse. “They lied to me, they hid the truth, and now my daughter is gone.”
Represented by attorneys Mena & Salazar, the family has filed a formal criminal complaint accusing both the school and the ranch of gross negligence. They are demanding the immediate release of security-camera footage and all evidence.
Following an urgent directive from Attorney General Miriam Germán Brito and the National Directorate for Children, Adolescents, and Family (CONANI), prosecutors moved quickly. Within days, arrest warrants were issued for the four employees directly responsible for organizing and supervising the trip. All four now face charges of involuntary manslaughter.
The Regional Director of Education confirmed the institute failed to submit any request or safety plan for the outing and has launched an internal investigation. The school has suspended classes indefinitely and issued a brief statement expressing condolences while pledging to cooperate with authorities.
The tragedy has reignited national outrage over student safety — and particularly Haitian students in particular — in Dominican schools. Many Haitian immigrant families say their children are often treated as second-class, placed in overcrowded private schools with lax oversight while facing daily discrimination.
Stephora’s death is not an isolated incident. Since the 2009 ban was enacted after multiple drownings, at least a dozen children have still lost their lives on unauthorized school aquatic trips — the majority from low-income and migrant communities.
Community leaders in Santiago and Santo Domingo are calling for stricter enforcement of the ban, mandatory lifeguard certification for any venue hosting school groups, and greater protection for Haitian and Haitian-Dominican children in the education system.
As the four defendants await trial, Stephora’s classmates have left her desk empty, covered in flowers and letters. Her teacher described her as “a light — always helping others, always smiling.”
That light was extinguished because adults failed her.
Rest in peace, little queen. The fight for justice continues.
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