MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — A 6-year-old boy died Tuesday night after a deputy pulled him from a pond in southwest Miami-Dade, authorities confirmed.
“I don’t know why he died,” his grandmother told Local 10 News. “Love your kids…I love all my grandsons. I love him. I always cook for him.”
According to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, the boy’s family had reported him missing from a home in the area of Southwest 284th Street and 142nd Avenue.
Deputies said aviation and K-9 units were requested to assist in the search.
A responding deputy then checked a nearby pond and found the child, authorities said.
MDSO officials said the deputy jumped into the pond, pulled the boy out and performed CPR on him until Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel arrived.
The child was then airlifted to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital in critical condition, but despite life-saving efforts, he later died at the hospital, authorities confirmed.
“Our deputies arrived 3 minutes right after this call and they began to search for this child,” Detective Joseph Peguero said. “It is our job to save lives and our deputies did their best this night, and we want to keep this family in our prayers alongside our deputies that will take this home with them tonight.”
Further details about how the boy was able to leave his home without someone noticing have not yet been released.
“He was just always playing and just being him, you know -- just being him,” the boy’s aunt said. “And it’s sad that it was sudden and it was so random, and you know, this is something that has impacted our family for the rest of our lives too.”
The boy’s death is being investigated by MDSO’s Homicide Bureau.
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