Pleasantville girl, 2, drowns in family's backyard pool

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Pleasantville girl, 2, drowns in family's backyard pool

10 p.m. Update - By ELAINE ROSE Staff Writer, 609-272-7215

Published: Wednesday, August 06, 2008

PLEASANTVILLE - A 2-year-old girl drowned Tuesday afternoon after she got outside her home and went into the backyard pool, police said.

The child, whose name was not released, was in her family home in the 200 block of Doughty Road at 1:14 p.m., and her grandfather was watching her and her 4-year-old sister, Chief Duane Comeaux said.

The 4-year-old fell out of her chair, and while the grandfather tended to her, the 2-year-old slipped outside and jumped into the above-ground pool, Comeaux said. The girl's mother was home at the time but in a different section of the house.

The girl was taken to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, City Campus, where she was pronounced dead.

The incident is the second time in two days that an Atlantic County toddler fell into a back-yard pool, both times while a parent was at home.

A 2-year-old boy was pulled from a 3-foot inflatable pool at 9:35 a.m. Tuesday at the family home in the 100 block of Peach Tree Lane in the Cardiff section of Egg Harbor Township. He was taken to ARMC, City Campus, and later airlifted to Cooper University Hospital in Camden.

The condition of the boy, whose name was not released, was not available Wednesday.

Egg Harbor Township police Capt. Ted Kammer said Wednesday that he had not been updated on the boy's health, and the police did not release the boy's or his family's name.

Kammer said no charges have been brought in the incident.

Staff writer Michelle Lee contributed to this report.