Boy drowns in pond and mom is left badly hurt after jumping in after him, NC cops say

A boy drowned while playing in a rural North Carolina pond, and his mother was critically injured in an attempt to save him, according to the Edgecome County Sheriff’s Office.

It happened late Thursday, June 8, in a community of mobile homes north of Tarboro, officials said in a news release. The largely agricultural area is about 70 miles northeast of Raleigh.

“One child drowned and his remains were recovered at 6:06 pm. His mother was resuscitated but is in critical condition,” the sheriff’s office said.

The 5-year-old boy and his 7-year-old sister were playing around the 18-foot-deep pond when the boy jumped in and began to struggle, WNCN reported. The pair live with their mother in a nearby neighborhood, which is connected to the pond by a foot path, the station said.

Witnesses say the first deputy on the scene teamed with a neighbor to resuscitate the mother, Carolinacoastonline reported.

The boy was identified as 5-year-old Ronald Velazquez by WRAL, which reported his sister pulled their mother from the water. The girl was then seen “running back and forth trying to get neighbors to help,” the station said.

Multiple fire departments and dive teams converged on the pond to search for the boy, the sheriff’s office said.

This story was originally published June 9, 2023 at 6:52 AM with the headline "Boy drowns in pond and mom is left badly hurt after jumping in after him, NC cops say."