An investigation is underway following the death of a 2-year-old Georgia girl who drowned at a Decatur pool earlier this month, the family’s attorney said.
The incident happened at the Oakhurst pool on September 19, as the victim, Poppy Pepper, attended her 8-year-old brother’s swim meet.
According to the family’s attorney, Poppy had been attending an afternoon “fall kickoff” event at the pool with her brother, mother, and infant sister. Three lifeguards were also in attendance during the closed event.
“There was no one else there besides the one family and the three lifeguards,” the family’s attorney, Natanya Brooks, said, according to Atlanta’s News First.
Her cause of death, according to what the DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office told People Magazine, is drowning. Her manner of death has been listed as accidental.
However, the family is pressing for answers and wondering how the drowning could happen with three lifeguards present.
“There should always be eyes on a pool if there are people at the pool. If there are kids on the deck, there have to be eyes on the pool, because this drowning happens so fast,” Brooks, a former Division I swimmer at Georgia Tech, told Decaturish.
“This happens in a matter of minutes.”
The details surrounding the drowning, including where the lifeguards were when the incident occurred, are reportedly unclear at this time.
“These are questions that we have to figure out answers to, and there will be an investigation to know exactly what happened,” Brooks added.
It’s unclear if the child’s family plans to file a lawsuit. Brooks reportedly said that it’s “just too early” to determine “what will come out of it.”
Check back for updates.
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