JPD: Toddler accidentally drowned in backyard pool | News

Jonesboro police say an 18-month-old girl died of accidental drowning Tuesday evening.

Just after 9 p.m. Officer Rodney J. Smith was called to St. Bernards emergency department.  According to his initial report, the child had been found floating in her family’s in-ground swimming pool.

The child’s mother said she was fixing dinner while her daughter and other children were in the downstairs playroom.

When she called the family to eat, her daughter didn’t come upstairs. 

The mother then searched the child’s room.  Not finding her daughter, she screamed for one of the boys to look outside, Officer Smith reported.

That’s when the girl was discovered floating in the pool.

Officer Smith said the child’s mother then  went to the pool “and struggled to get (her) out.”  She then began performing CPR while another family member called 911.

While waiting for the fire department to arrive, two neighbors—including a nurse—came over to assist the family and to administer CPR.

The child was taken to St. Bernards where Chief Deputy Coroner Milton Harbison pronounced her dead.

The mother told Officer Smith the home has two doors leading out to the pool.  She said the one in the playroom stayed locked and that the other was used to let the dogs go outside.  “It is possible that after letting the dogs out that the door did not get well secured and (the child) was able to get into the back yard,” Officer Smith reported.

There is no suspicion of foul play.