DELTONA-- A 2-year-old Deltona girl drowned Friday evening in the family backyard pool while her mother was resting in bed and had thought she was with her, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office said.
"The mother was resting in bed while her five other children, ages 8 to 14, were playing and cleaning house," Sheriff's spokesman Brandon Haught said. "The mother told
Sheriff's investigators that she had the toddler in bed with her, but the girl apparently got up when the mother had fallen asleep.
A 911 call at 6:52 p.m. sent deputies and EVAC ambulance paramedics rushing to 1270 Saxon Blvd. When deputies arrived on scene at 6:55 p.m., paramedics were trying to resuscitate the victim, Marcy Humphrey, as they loaded her into the ambulance. The girl was transported to Florida Hospital Fish Memorial in Orange City where she was pronounced dead.
The mother told investigators that she had been to the doctor's office earlier in the day for medicine for a medical condition, Haught said. She said that she was asleep for about 10 minutes when she was awakened by her children screaming. When she rushed out the back door she saw the children pulling the toddler from the water, the Sheriff's spokesman said. She said that she attempted CPR and called 9-1-1. The father was at work at the time, but rushed home upon hearing about the incident.
The Volusia County Medical Examiner's Office will conduct an autopsy to confirm the cause of death, which is being treated as accidental.