No charges after ‘charismatic’ 4-year-old drowns during swim lesson, GA deputies say
UPDATE: A Georgia swim instructor won’t face charges after 4-year-old Israel Scott drowned during a swim lesson last month, according to the Burke County Sheriff’s Office. There was possibly “some form of negligence” on the instructor’s part, but “it was determined that the case lacks sufficient evidence to prove criminal negligence.”
“As a result, we are unable to move forward with this case,” Sheriff Alfonzo Williams said in a statement.
The case was turned over to the district attorney for further review.
Original story continues below.
A 4-year-old old Georgia boy found unresponsive in a swimming pool had recently started learning to swim, his mother said.
Dori Scott is mourning the loss of her son, Israel Scott, after he drowned Tuesday, June 14, at a home in Hephzibah, multiple outlets reported, citing the Burke County Sheriff’s Office.
Scott shared her grief on social media.
“My heart has been ripped out of my chest!” she wrote on Facebook alongside photos of her smiling son. “I can’t believe that I will never see my baby boy again. I would have never imagined that I would only get 4 years with my little man. My life will never be the same.”
Deputies were called to a home on Deer Run Road in Hephzibah just after 11 a.m. about a possible drowning, WRDW reported. A child was found unresponsive in the pool and taken via ambulance to a hospital, where he died.
A nurse who was at the scene performed CPR until paramedics arrived, according to WFXG.
Scott said her son was “a little nervous” about his first day of swim lessons on June 13, according to a Facebook post. She remembered him as a “sweet, charismatic, loving boy.”
“It hurts to think that nothing, absolutely nothing will bring my sweet boy back to me,” she wrote Thursday, June 16. “I chose who I thought would be a great fit for him to learn how to swim, but ... who would have thought this would happen.”
Authorities haven’t confirmed if the drowning occurred during a swim lesson.
“Our hearts and prayers go out to his family,” the sheriff’s office told McClatchy News in a statement. “This case is still being investigated and no further information is available at this time.”
Hephzibah is about 30 miles southwest of Augusta.
This story was originally published June 16, 2022 at 1:45 PM with the headline "No charges after ‘charismatic’ 4-year-old drowns during swim lesson, GA deputies say."