Midvale toddler drowns in apartment complex pool

MIDVALE, Utah — A 3-year-old boy has died after being pulled out of an apartment complex swimming pool in Midvale.

The incident happened at approximately 4:45 p.m. Wednesday at an apartment complex at 8095 S. Seghini Drive (800 West).

Police say the 3-year-old boy was able to get out of his apartment unnoticed and walked to the pool. The pool is surrounded by a fence and typically requires a key fob to get inside the gate. But at that time, workers were doing repairs on a hot tub, out of view of the pool, and had left the gate propped open, according to police.

The boy went into the pool alone and was believed to be in the water about 15 minutes before he was discovered, Unified police said.

“Just a really, really horrible accident,” Sergeant Melody Cutler with Unified Police said. “His mother is the one who did pull him out of the pool, they attempted CPR, and Unified Fire also performed some life-saving measures, but they were just unable to save him.”

The boy was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His name has not yet been released.

“This in particular case is just a series of really unfortunate things,” Cutler said. “He was able to get out of his apartment without being noticed, the gate happened to be propped open, because the reality was those safety precautions were in place, but unfortunately just that series of events came in there.”

Cutler said police determined the parents are not at fault.

“They are beyond grief-stricken about this event,” she said. “As you can imagine, a mother finding your child like that is a horribly tragic event.”