A 6-year-old child drowned at a Southeast Texas residential property on the Fourth of July, prompting the La Marque Police Department to investigate the circumstances of his death.
The incident took place at a rental home in the 800 block of Volney Street just before 7 p.m. The victim received cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) from La Marque Emergency Medical Services before being transferred to Mainland Medical Center in nearby Texas City, but he did not survive.
The 6-year-old boy disappeared underwater while celebrating Independence Day at a massive pool party with a significant number of other people, according to authorities.
The tragedy occurred almost eight years after a similar drowning incident in the same house. In 2014, Stephanie Smith, who was just 4 years old, passed away after drowning in the same pool during a birthday party.
Stephanie’s mother, Sharena Williams, described to Fox 26 Houston how she reacted to the tragic news of the little boy’s death.
When someone told her a boy drowned at the same house as her daughter, Williams said she told them, “Someone had to lose a child from something I was trying to tell everyone back then. His house is not kid-friendly.”
Williams claimed that the gate to the fence around the pool, which had a 10-foot-deep end, was broken, and that the pool water was not kept clean, making it difficult to see through. It is unclear if these conditions were present at the time of the little boy’s death.
After her child’s passing, Williams initiated legal action against the homeowner for negligently causing the death. A jury ruled Stephanie’s death an accident in 2015, but Williams hopes that the young boy’s death this week will be investigated more thoroughly.
The rental property is still owned by the same person who owned it when Stephanie died, according to a report. As the investigation continues, there has been no indication that any foul play caused the boy’s death.