No charges will be filed against the parents of an Arizona toddler who was declared dead after being found unresponsive in a family pool, only to be discovered breathing hours later at a hospital morgue.
Gilbert police had recommended negligence charges in the extraordinary case. However, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell stated that securing a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt was unlikely.
"The family had multiple childproof locks and safety measures in place, and multiple adults were present in the home, all of whom believed someone was watching the child," Mitchell said on Wednesday.
"Additionally, the investigation found no evidence that the parents exhibited any obvious signs of impairment."
First responders were dispatched to the home on February 8 following a reported drowning.
In 911 calls, two relatives frantically reported that the child had been pulled from the pool as people at the scene could be heard shrieking. One caller reported the toddler was unconscious.
They performed life-saving measures on the 18-month-old child before transporting him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead approximately an hour later.
Remarkably, about five hours later, police were notified that the child was breathing. He was subsequently flown to another hospital and ultimately survived.
Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, the facility where the child was initially taken, described the incident earlier this month as "a heartbreaking situation" but declined to release further details.
The hospital confirmed it conducted a "thorough review of all aspects of the care provided to learn what happened and to make meaningful changes to strengthen our care."
Documents obtained by The Associated Press reveal that Gilbert police officers present at the hospital observed possible signs of life multiple times, yet the child was still moved to a "cold room," which functions as a morgue.
The records also indicated tension between officers and a doctor. “Please do your thing and let me do my thing,” Dr. Aryan Toosi told an officer at one point, according to the report. “I went to medical school for a reason.”
Scott Holden, an attorney for Toosi, told the AP that he wouldn’t make a full statement on behalf of the doctor “other than to assure you that there is much more to this case, both factually and medically, than has been reported thus far.”
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