la jolla

Toddler Drowns in La Jolla Pool

Investigators have determined that the death of a 3-year-old girl in a backyard swimming pool in an exclusive San Diego neighborhood was accidental.

The drowning happened around 6 p.m. Saturday at a house in the 5000 block of Rutgers Road in La Jolla.

Online photos show that the home is a vacation rental with an Olympic-sized pool. Neighbors said a family from Mexico was vacationing there.

The young victim and her family, who live in San Diego, were attending a party at the home, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner.

One neighbor told NBC 7 he heard screams and ran to help. Someone was already performing CPR when he arrived, but it was too late. The toddler was pronounced dead at Scripps Memorial Hospital, according to the medical examiner.

This is the sixth child to drown this year in San Diego County.

Mary Beth Moran, an Injury Prevention Specialist at Rady Children’s Hospital, said parents need to know the ABCs of poll safety:

A- Adult supervision

B- Barriers like fences, not just around the yard but the pool itself

C- Class like CPR classes for adults and swimming classes for kids

“A drowning is a silent death,” Moran said. “People think because of the movies, there’s lots of splashing and screaming, but no. When a child drowns or an adult drowns, they submerge and you never hear anything. So it’s really important to keep your eyes on the water.”

Research shows if children do not learn to swim by age 7 or 8, chances are they will never learn, according to Moran.

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