9-Month-Old Drowns in Bathtub After Parents Fell Asleep, Leaving Him Alone
This is the home where the toddler drowned. (Martin County Sheriff’s Office)
(IBEXNews) - A 9-month-old boy died at a Florida hospital Friday after drowning in a bathtub while both of his parents were sleeping, according to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, which has yet to determine whether to charge the couple.
Police said the child’s mother told them she left the baby alone for at least 20 minutes around 11:30 a.m. that day and fell asleep. The woman woke up and found her son, identified as Cameron Davis, face down in the water and looking “blue," authorities said.
She then rushed to get her husband, who had also been sleeping, but their efforts to conduct CPR was unsuccessful, the sheriff’s office said in a news release Saturday. Deputies and firefighters also tried to revive the child, but he was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
“It’s a sad situation. It’s terrible,” Martin County Sheriff William Snyder told CBS 12. “You know, it’s a 9-month-old baby. It’s Christmas. These are the hardest things for our detectives to work.”
The parents, Heather Clifford and Shawn Davis, have two other children, but authorities said the Department of Children and Families has taken custody of both.
It was also not the first time police were called to the house — which is Hobe Sound, a small community north of West Palm Beach. The sheriff’s office said deputies have been there at least three times in the past, including for an incident involving DCF.
An autopsy is scheduled for Monday. Local investigators, meanwhile, are working with the State Attorney’s Office to decide whether either parent would be charged.
