Tragic Saylor Hayes’ parents will remain behind bars after a South Carolina magistrate ripped into the couple Saturday, saying there was “no way on this earth” he’d grant the pair bond after they were charged in connection to the 5-year-old’s drowning death.
Georgetown County Magistrate Steven Pop denied bond for John Hayes III, 71, and Geordyn Hayes, 31, of Virginia, who are both facing charges of unlawfully placing a child at risk and willfully abandoning a child, after their daughter’s body was found on Aug. 31.
The family was vacationing on Pawleys Island in South Carolina when Saylor, who is non-verbal and autistic, wandered off and was later found dead in a waterway after an intensive two-day search.
During the hearing, counsel for John said the parents had endured a “horrific” experience and argued for bond, according to The Post and Courier.
“They want to fight these charges,” said attorney Jonny McCoy. “They’ve gone through something horrific.”
But Pop made it clear he would not grant release.
“That’s not going to happen on my watch,” he told the court. “There’s no way on this earth that I’m going to grant a PR bond.”
The attorney for John is not representing his much younger wife, though the cases share significant overlap.
An autopsy released Friday indicated Saylor died of injuries consistent with drowning.
The examination found that the young girl died of pulmonary edema — a condition where fluid buildup in the lungs restricts breathing — WMBF reported, citing the Georgetown County Coroner’s Office.
An official cause of death has not yet been determined.
Saylor’s little body was found in a bathing suit with a strap attached to her ankle, which appeared to be a wrist tether, the coroner’s office said.
The girl was supposed to wear a Project Lifesaver transmitter because she tended to wander off, but was not wearing the device when she walked away from the property during the family’s vacation.
John and Georgyn were arrested Tuesday in Tennessee and extradited to South Carolina to face charges.
They are accused of putting Saylor “at an unreasonable risk of harm affecting her life and safety by failing to provide supervision and safeguards appropriate for a severely nonverbal, autistic, five-year-old child with a known affinity to water and a history of elopement,” the arrest affidavit states.
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