Police are continuing to investigate why an 8-year-old girl identified as Devina Browndrowned at a city pool with three lifeguards on duty this weekend.
Devina and three relatives ranging in age from 7 to 12 were dropped off at the Cherry Hill Splash Park Saturday by an aunt, said Baltimore police spokesman Officer Troy Harris. They noticed Brown was missing around 3:30 p.m., he said.
“All three of her relatives started to look around the water,” Harris said. “That?s when they found her floating.”
City officials said three lifeguards and a police officer on duty responded, giving the girl CPR, then medics transported her to Harbor Hospital across the street. Brown, who lived on the 2600 block of Oswego Avenue, was pronounced dead at 4:20 p.m.
The city is cooperating with the police?s investigation of the incident, said Portia Harris, associate director of the recreation and parks department, which operates the city?s pool. Brown?s drowning is the second at a city-run pool this summer, following the death of an autistic 7-year-old boy who fell into the Central Rosemont pool before it opened in June.
Harris said the city has and enforces a policy that all children under 8 must be accompanied by an adult. The city imposes height regulations for swimming pools and restricts children who do not meet them to wading pools, she said.
Brown?s companions are part of the investigation, Harris said.
“We investigate the incidents thoroughly when they occur to help prevent a tragedy like this from occurring again,” she said.
Signs taped to the pool?s door Sunday indicated the park was closed for mechanical problems. Harris said the problems were unrelated to the drowning.
