Toddler wanders from apartment and drowns in pond, Florida cops say. Parents charged
A 3-year-old boy has died after walking out the front door of a Florida apartment and into a nearby pond, police said.
On Oct. 14, the child’s mother was in the bathroom while he was in the living room when she heard their door opening and closing, according to an arrest report from the Sanford Police Department.
She asked her 15-year-old daughter to check the door for her, the report said, who saw the door was closed but didn’t see the toddler.
From the bathroom, the mother called the 3-year-old’s father to see if he knew where their son was, police said.
The boy’s father was in the other bathroom of the apartment and said the 3-year-old was not with him, according to the report.
McClatchy News is not identifying the parents to protect the identity of their children.
The toddler, who was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, had a history of leaving the apartment and wandering the complex, police said.
On previous occasions, neighbors found the toddler alone and took him back to the apartment complex office or directly to his apartment, according to the report.
His parents started searching the apartment and throughout the complex before they called police, according to the report.
When officers arrived, they saw something floating in the pond behind the family’s apartment, police said.
It was the 3-year-old, according to the report.
He was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead.
Police said both parents had medical marijuana cards and smoked regularly, and were visibly high and smelled of marijuana when officers arrived.
The boy’s parents were charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child and taken into custody.
Sanford is about 30 miles northeast of Orlando.
This story was originally published October 16, 2023 at 9:48 AM with the headline "Toddler wanders from apartment and drowns in pond, Florida cops say. Parents charged."
