A 48-year-old Springfield man and former City Council candidate was charged July 24 with endangering the life or health of a child in connection with the March 16 swimming pool drowning of Barrett Koches.
David Yankee, of the 2300 block of Winnebago Drive, was charged in a Sangamon County grand jury indictment with two felony counts and two misdemeanor counts of endangering the life or health of a child.
Yankee appeared in court on July 25, pleaded not guilty and was released while he awaits trial. A judge decided he is eligible for representation by a public defender, but a lawyer from the Public Defender’s Office hasn’t been assigned to his case yet.
The next Sangamon County Circuit Court hearing in the case is scheduled for Aug. 8.
The first two counts against Yankee are connected with the death of Koches, 7, a foster child in the care of Yankee, 48, and his husband, Michael.
The misdemeanor counts are related to two other foster children, a 10-year-old and Barrett’s 4-year-old brother, Ryder, who were at the Yankee home at the time of the incident but not injured.
The two children were removed from the Yankee home by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services after Barrett’s drowning, and DCFS said the Yankees, who had been foster parents for eight years, currently have no foster children.
Count One of the indictment says Yankee “knowingly caused or permitted the life or health of a child under the age of 18 to be endangered, in that the defendant left 7-year-old (Barrett Koches) at home unattended for over one hour, with only the supervision of a 10-year-old and a 4-year-old,” resulting in Barrett’s death.
Under Illinois law, “unattended” means not accompanied by a person 14 years of age or older.
Each of the felony charges against David Yankee is punishable upon conviction by a prison term of two to 10 years, though a judge can opt to impose a sentence of probation of no prison time.
The misdemeanor charges carry a maximum penalty of one year in jail.
Barrett, who police said had been living with the Yankees for about a month, was found face-down in the home’s uncovered, in-ground outdoor pool on March 16.
The Yankees’ three foster children, all boys, were left without adult supervision for about an hour after David Yankee left to go to the Walmart on North Dirksen Parkway about 11:40 a.m. March 16, according to police reports.
Michael Yankee, who wasn’t charged, was not home at the time of the incident and “had not been home since the morning, when he left for work at Kohl’s,” police reports said.
Police and other emergency responders were alerted to the drowning after the 10-year-old boy ran out to the front of the house and got the attention of a FedEx driver who then called for help.
The 10-year-old told police that the 4-year-old “threw a brick into the shallow end of the pool.” Police reports said Barrett jumped into the pool to retrieve the brick, then threw the brick out of the pool and tried to get out but slipped in the shallow end and, “as a result, slid into the deep end.”
A Springfield firefighter and a city police officer pulled Barrett out of the pool, and firefighters began to perform CPR. Barrett was transported by ambulance to HSHS St. John's Hospital, where medical staff worked on him before pronouncing him dead at 1 p.m. March 16.
David Yankee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Ward 4 aldermanic seat on the Springfield City Council in 2023, told police that when he left for Walmart, he planned to go to a bank inside the store.
Police reports quoted Yankee as saying he wanted to either deposit money or cash a check at the bank – both tasks were mentioned – so he “could take the children downtown.” While at the store, Yankee “got distracted in the clearance and Easter aisle, so he took longer in Walmart than expected,” according to reports.
When reached by phone July 25, Yankee wouldn’t comment on the charges.
Yankee told the Illinois Times reporter who called that he was “fired from my job” because of what the reporter had previously written about him.
Yankee had been working as a licensed financial adviser for ACB Wealth Management, which is affiliated with Petersburg-based Alliance Community Bank. Bank President and Chief Executive Officer John Leinberger didn’t immediately return a phone call from Illinois Times.
Dean Olsen, a senior staff writer for Illinois Times, can be reached at [email protected], 217-836-1068, or x.com/DeanOlsenIT.
