A toddler who was found unresponsive in a family swimming pool in Eupora last week later died, according to local authorities.
The apparent accidental drowning on West Gould Avenue was reported to the 911 Center at 5:43 p.m. Sept. 1. Webster County Coroner Steve Wells identified the victim as 3-year-old Harli Grace Young.
He said the child had been with a parent in front of their house when the parent realized she was not there. The parents went looking for their daughter and found her unresponsive in an above-ground swimming pool in the back yard, according to Wells and Police Chief Gregg Hunter.
A parent began resuscitative efforts as soon as she was discovered, Wells said, and a city police officer who was first on the scene then took over CPR efforts. Paramedics from North Mississippi Medical Center-Eupora continued CPR and advanced life support measures when they arrived, according to Wells.
The child was taken by ambulance to NMMC-Eupora, where she was evaluated and stabilized. Wells said she was alive when later airlifted to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis.
However, Harli Grace was removed from life support and declared deceased the night of Sept. 2, according to Wells and other reports.
Wells said her body was transferred to the state medical examiner’s office in Jackson, where an autopsy was to be performed. Hunter told the Board of Aldermen last week that the Eupora Police Department had started an investigation into the tragedy in conjunction with the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services.
Wells said Thursday that foul play is not suspected.
“At this time, pending conclusion of the investigation, it appears to be an accidental drowning,” he said.
Memorial services for Harli Grace were Sunday at Marvin Hill Congregational Methodist Church in Cumberland.
Last week’s drowning was the second accidental death of a child to occur in the city this summer. A 14-month-old was fatally injured July 1 when a family friend accidentally backed over him on Posey Street.
