MERRIMACK — The mother accused of negligent homicide in the drowning death of her baby boy last year may have fallen asleep while water overflowed the bathtub where her two children played, according to new court documents.

Melissa M. Gutierrez, 26, is on house arrest facing charges of negligent homicide, manslaughter, two counts of reckless conduct and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child for the Aug. 25, 2011, incident at her home at 46 Wilson Hill Road.

Police allege she left her two children, an 8-month-old baby and a 2-year-old boy, unattended in the bathtub for an extended period of time with the water running. The baby, Christian Ntapalis, drowned as a result of her negligence, police said.

In court records filed this month, new revelations came to light about what Gutierrez was doing when her youngest son drowned.

Gutierrez told police she clogged the bathtub drain, filled the tub with about 2 inches of water, turned off the faucet and left her two sons in the bath while she “went to the living room down the hall where she sat on the couch to relax,” court records say.

She was unable to say with certainty whether she fell asleep on the couch, according to her first interview with detectives. Gutierrez initially told authorities that she “may have dozed off,” but didn't think she did because not much time had passed, even though none of the clocks in the house were working, says a new motion filed by David Tencza, Assistant Hillsborough County Attorney.

Gutierrez claims she sat on the couch until her oldest son yelled to ask for a towel, at which time she went to the basement in search of a towel and observed water dripping from the ceiling onto the floor.

Alarmed, she ran to the bathroom upstairs where she found Christian “floating in an overflowing bathtub,” and James crying, says court records. Gutierrez, along with emergency personnel, attempted to resuscitate Christian but were unsuccessful.

An attorney for Gutierrez, Anthony Sculimbrene, has filed a motion to suppress her statements made to police, alleging they were obtained while she was hysterical over the death of her son. A court hearing on the matter was scheduled for Monday at Hillsborough County Superior Court, but was continued.

Legal counsel for both sides were present in the courtroom Friday to further discuss the matter, but again the hearing was continued because attorneys are attempting to reach a negotiated plea.

“The police took advantage of Ms. Gutierrez's understandably emotional state to get information from her. Under these circumstances, Ms. Gutierrez was so racked with agony and distress (as any parent would be) that she was of a mind incapable of a conscious choice,” claims Sculimbrene in his motion.

The state has filed an objection to the defendant's motion to suppress illegally obtained statements, arguing Gutierrez was not subjected to a custodial interrogation at the time she made the incriminating statements to police.

“The record fails to show that detectives were engaged in any overreaching, deceptive or coercive actions,” says the document filed by Tencza.

During Gutierrez's third interview with police, the mother changed her story and insisted that she had not fallen asleep on the couch, but was instead cleaning the living room at the time the boys were in the tub, according to court records.

While she could not say for certain how long they were unattended in the bath during the first two interviews, during the third set of questioning she told police they were left alone for about seven to 15 minutes, and an additional three to five minutes while she searched for a towel in the basement, says court documents.

Her oldest son, James Blackington III, now 3, was placed in state custody following the incident, as his father is deceased.

khoughton@newstote.com