An Ohio toddler has drowned after he wandered into a neighbour’s yard and fell into a swimming pool while his mother was asleep inside their home.
Two-year-old Marcus Hall, known to his family as “Mar Mar”, was found in the pool by police after officers were called to the property in the city of Oregon in Ohio on Wednesday, the Oregon Police Division told The Independent.
A responding officer performed CPR on the toddler while another officer drove the toddler to hospital approximately one mile away where attempts to save the toddler’s life were made by staff, but unfortunately, the child was pronounced dead.
“He was cool little dude,” Marcus’ father Anthony Hall told ABC13, before breaking down in tears.
“He was very energetic, he learned quickly, he was very smart.”
A neighbour had first spotted a child wandering outside at around 10.34am on Wednesday, according to ABC13.
The neighbour called 911 to say they could see a baby in a diaper with a dog, later identified as the 4-year-old brother of the 2-year-old victim. The caller stayed with the child and the dog until they both went back inside their home.
At the time, Marcus’ mother was looking after him and his 4-year-old sibling but had fallen asleep inside the home.
While it took several minutes for the mother to initially answer the door because she was sleeping, she was “alert and coherent” while officers spoke with her, police said.
An officer responded to the property, at which point the 4-year-old and the dog were back inside the home, and advised her that she should consider putting safety precautions in place.
Marcus was found in a neighbour’s pool— (GoFundMe)
Around an hour later, at 11.27am the mother then called the police herself as she couldn’t find her 2-year-old, Marcus.
“I got woken up to the cops over here knocking on my door because they said that kids were running around outside, so when I woke up, it’s only my four-year-old here,” the Ohio mother said.
The dispatcher replied: “So your 2-year-old is missing?”
“Yeah,” the mother said in the phone recording obtained by ABC13.
Officers returned to the scene where they found Marcus in a neighbour’s pool – a round pool that is set up above ground with a small ladder attached.
The yard around the pool, which sits directly behind the property where police were called, was not fully enclosed with a fence.
The 4-year-old brother was unharmed during the tragic incident, police said.
A violation has been filed over the pool as, according to city law, it should have had a fence around it.
The pool has been listed as a violation, as according to city law it should have a fence around it— (13ABC)
The police said that the matter is currently under further investigation and Child Services is also looking into the case.
A GoFundMe page was also set up by Mr Hall to raise funds to help pay for Marcus’ funeral service on 10 October.
“I don’t know how to explain this but I will try the best way I can,” Mr Hall wrote on the fundraising page.
“He was only two years old… I just want my baby to be able to rest, I can’t imagine what was going through his mind during all this.”
