Published The Hometown Channel.com
January 31, 2002
POSTED: 5:55 p.m. CST January 31, 2002
UPDATED: 6:22 p.m. CST February 1, 2002
FORT SMITH, Ark. -- A child died Thursday after the car he was riding in rolled into a pond and sank.
It happened in Little Flock in Benton County. 40/29 was told that the child's mother had left him in the vehicle unattended at the Fairways Apartment Complex while she went inside their home to get his sister. The child, Giovanni Torres, 4, was playing with the car's gearshift, which caused the car to roll into the pond. When the mother came back, the car was already in the 46-degree water, police said. Rescuers pulled Torres out of the water after 15 minutes, but it was too late. He died at St. Mary's Hospital. Police are still investigating, but at this point they are ruling the death as accidental. Giovanni's parents are cooperating with the investigation, police said. Parents at the Fairways Apartments told 40/29 that children often play around the pond, which has no fences around it. Kelley Cradduck of the Rogers Police Department said if water is present where children play, it could easily lead to tragedy. The company that owns the complex, Lindsey Management, said that it is considering adding security fences around its ponds, but it has no plans to do so at this time.