Probe of drowning continues

A police investigator said he thinks the adults at the pool took ‘every precaution.’

WARREN — A 6-year-old Howland boy had been in and out of a 5-foot-deep backyard swimming pool throughout the day Saturday and wore flotation devices every time.

But at sometime before 7 p.m., with the boy done swimming for the day and his mother holding his floaties while sitting on the deck at the edge of the pool, thinking the boy had gone somewhere to change out of his swimsuit, he was spotted at the bottom of the pool.

A 12-year-old, one of two children inside the pool at the time, pulled the child out of the water, but the 6-year-old could not be revived. The boy, who police still refused to identify Monday, was pronounced dead later at an area hospital.

The boy would have started first grade today at Howland Glen Elementary School, said Lt. Don Bishop of the Warren Township Police Department, who investigated the drowning.

Dr. Humphrey Germaniuk, Trumbull County coroner, ruled the boy’s death an accidental drowning.

Bishop said the boy’s name is not being released because some family members had not yet been notified; the coroner deferred to the police department; and the school district said it was not permitted to release student information.

The boy was among about 10 boys who had come to the house at 2220 N. Leavitt Road just north of Skyway Drive-In for an annual planning meeting of a Cub Scout troop for boys from the area, including Leavittsburg, Howland, and Newton Falls.

The families had been at the house much of the day, Bishop said, with the boys playing in the pool and elsewhere in the yard.

There were also about 10 parents at the house, and many of them were on the large swimming pool deck at the time that the boy was discovered, Bishop said.

“He got out and was going to get dressed,” Bishop said of the boy. “Somehow in a matter of minutes, he got back in the pool,” he said. “His mom had his floaties, thinking he’d gone in [the house] to get dressed,” Bishop said.

“There were plenty of adults, plenty of supervision. It’s a sad day. They [the boy’s parents] are still in shock.”

“I think they [the adults] took every precaution,” Bishop said. “The parents are probably blaming themselves, and everyone else there [is probably blaming themselves], but there are some things you have no control of.”

John Sheets, Howland Schools superintendent, said extra primary- level counselors were called to Howland Glen today to help with any questions or counseling that the children might need regarding the boy’s death.

The teachers were also informed of the tragedy first thing Monday morning, Sheets said.

“The teachers were aware of it and addressed it as questions came up,” he said, adding that an attempt was made to keep the first day of school as normal as possible while still helping the children with the death.

runyan@vindy.com