Grandmother indicted in Roswell boy's drowning death

By Alexis Stevens

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The grandmother accused of drowning her 5-year-old grandson while on vacation in Florida has been indicted in the boy's death.

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Florida Department of Law Enforc Marianne Bordt, 71, of Germany is charged with first-degree murder in the drowning death of her grandson, Camden Hiers, 5, of Roswell. The boy died at St. George Island, Fla.

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A Franklin County, Fla., grand jury indicted 71-year-old Marianne Bordt on charges of premeditated murder and aggravated child abuse, according to the county clerk of court.

Bordt, a German national, was arrested on Jan. 4 after she told police she didn't want her grandson to grow up in a divorced home, according to police. Bordt is accused of drowning Camden Hiers, of Roswell, in the bathtub of a rental condo while her husband went to a store in St. George Island, Fla.

Heinz Bordt told Franklin County police that he left for the store around 2 p.m. on Jan. 4, and when he returned at 4:30 p.m., he found the front door open and his wife coming from the beach wearing a jacket and long underwear, according to an affidavit. His wife was wet from the neck down, Heinz Bordt told police.

Another family vacationing in a nearby beach condo spent time with Camden in the days before his death, but didn't notice anything out of the ordinary about the child or his maternal grandparents.

"He just gravitated to both of my sons and to my husband," Christy Gandy told the AJC in January. "He was so sweet, and just the cutest little boy."

Camden's parents, David and Karin Hiers, divorced in 2006 and shared custody of their only child, a family attorney previously told the AJC.

A court date for Marianne Bordt has not yet been set.