NORMAN PARK, Ga. - Authorities charged a woman with murder after they say she held her granddaughter under water in a south Georgia pond.

Colquitt County sheriff's investigator Sgt. Shawn Bostick said 46-year-old Virginia Sims is accused of intentionally holding 6-year-old Alexis Walker under the water while strangling her.

Alexis was pronounced dead after she was pulled from the pond Monday night.

Authorities say sheriff's deputies attempted to perform CPR on the girl, but were unsuccessful.

Colquitt County Coroner Verlyn Brock told the Moultrie Observer that an autopsy lists asphyxia as the cause of death. Brock said her death appeared to have been caused by strangulation in conjunction with drowning.