Toddler found in pool dies

The child's death is being investigated as an accident, Pasco officials say.

By JODIE TILLMAN
Published August 20, 2007

BAYONET POINT — The 17-month-old child found in his grandmother's swimming pool a day earlier died Sunday morning, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office said.

Christopher Richardson was pronounced dead at 9:54 a.m. Sunday at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, officials said. His family had him removed from life support.

A preliminary investigation indicates the boy fell into the pool after going through an unlocked or open door, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Officials say the case is being investigated as an accident. An autopsy is scheduled.

The house where the child was staying is at 12402 Weatherstone Row. His grandmother, Barbara Alday, had recently moved into the home and was keeping Christopher and his 6-year-old brother, Bernard, said Christopher's uncle, David Richardson.

"It was a pure accident," said Richardson. "He was a great kid."

A news release from the Sheriff's Office says other children had been in the swimming pool earlier Saturday morning but had gotten out and gone inside.

But Richardson said that the other children - the victim's brother, Bernard, and their 6-year-old cousin, Isaiah - had returned to the pool after playing video games inside.

Alday, he said, was sitting in the living room with a friend.

No one realized, he said, that the youngster toddled out through a sliding glass door.

According to Richardson, the older boys were splashing in the shallow end of the pool and had gone underwater. When they came up, they heard their grandmother calling the toddler's name. She found his body in the deep end.

Richardson said the two boys never heard the child fall in.

Jodie Tillman can be reached at 727 869-6247 or jtillman@sptimes.com.

[Last modified August 19, 2007, 22:25:15]