Headline Surfer® graphic / ORMOND BEACH -- The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the circumstances that led to a 3-year-old boy's drowning death in a backyard swimming pool near Ormond Beach on Tuesday afternoon.
Deputies were dispatched to a home on Rodeo Acres Drive after receiving a 911 call at 3:45 p.m. The toddler was identified as David Airhart. The father and an older sibling were home at the time, according to a Sheriff's incident report.
"Based on preliminary information, investigators believe the child had been missing for at least 15 minutes before he was found in the water," Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson told Headline Surfer®. "When deputies and paramedics arrived, the stepfather had the child out of the pool and was trying to resuscitate him. Paramedics took over CPR efforts and transported the child by ambulance to Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center in Ormond Beach. The child was pronounced dead at the hospital."
"Based on preliminary information, investigators believe the child had been missing for at least 15 minutes before he was found in the water," Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson told Headline Surfer®. "When deputies and paramedics arrived, the stepfather had the child out of the pool and was trying to resuscitate him. Paramedics took over CPR efforts and transported the child by ambulance to Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center in Ormond Beach. The child was pronounced dead at the hospital."
Eight small children drowned in swimming pools in Volusia County in 2011, one of the deadliest years on record. Links are provided below for that story and more recent child drownings.