Mom Was Accused of Drowning Toddler and then Coldly Telling Girl’s Dad What Happened: Why Wasn't She Convicted?

A Georgia mother accused of drowning her toddler nearly two years ago has been found not guilty by reason of insanity, according to court records obtained by PEOPLE.

Asia Calabrese-Lewis was facing murder and child cruelty charges in connection with the May 2022 death of her 1-year-old daughter Nirvana Oliver, PEOPLE previously reported, citing family and police in Sandy Springs, Ga., an Atlanta suburb.

However, on April 18, a judge in Fulton County Superior Court dropped the charges against Calabrese-Lewis, ordering that she should be declared not guilty by reason of insanity, citing her mental illness, according to the filing obtained by PEOPLE.

“The defendant is mentally ill with a diagnosis of Bipolar I Disorder, mania with psychotic features at the time of the offense,” the filing states. The document also states that she suffered from depression for “most of her life.”

While the judge said Calabrese-Lewis is competent to stand trial, she “did not have the mental capacity to distinguish between right and wrong” at the time of her daughter’s death, per the filing.

“She acted because of a delusional compulsion (as a result of her mental illness) which overmastered her will to resist committing the crime,” the filing states.

Calabrese-Lewis is currently receiving mental health treatment while behind bars at the Fulton County Jail. She was ordered to the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities for an evaluation of her current mental state, per the filing.

On May 11, 2023, police responded to an office complex parking deck in Sandy Springs, where Calabrese-Lewis, then 24, was reportedly having “some type of episode,” according to a police press release shared at the time.

“The child’s father arrived and asked where the baby was,” police said. Lewis then allegedly said “that the baby was deceased in a pool,” per the release.

Authorities searched for the couple’s daughter, identified by family as Nirvana Oliver on a GoFundMe campaign, before she was eventually found in a nearby pond. The toddler was later pronounced dead at the hospital, according to police.

According to an arrest warrant cited by Fox 5 Atlanta, Calabrese-Lewis and her daughter were seen on surveillance footage arriving at the retention pond located across the street from where they lived. The pair were reportedly out of frame for several minutes before the mother was seen walking away naked and alone, per the warrant cited by the outlet.

The day before Nirvana’s death, Sandy Springs police conducted a welfare check on Calabrese-Lewis and an unspecified juvenile regarding alleged child abuse, 11 Alive reported, citing a warrant.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.  

However, no charges were filed as police reportedly said they did not feel a crime had been committed. Police then made a referral to the Georgia Division of Family & Children Services (DFCS) after escorting the mother and juvenile back to their home and making contact with the child’s father, per the warrant cited by the outlet.

According to the GoFundMe campaign, Nirvana was about a month away from her 2nd birthday when she died.

The girl was remembered by her grandfather, Kenneth Oliver, as someone who “lit up any room she entered,” 11 Alive reported in 2023.