Children's Safety Zone

TUCSON  (KGUN9 TV) – The Pima County Sheriff’s Department investigating a drowning on the northwest side now believe the victim, a 56-year old woman, may have taken her own life.

PCSO tells 9 On Your Side deputies responded to a home at Orange Grove and Camino de la Tierra at about 5:30 this morning. Detectives say a family members called 911 to report  a drowning.

When deputies arrived, they say they found the woman’s body in a swimming pool.

Deputies also tell 9 On Your Side, shortly after, they found a suicide note inside of the house. Deputies did not find evidence of foul play.

PCSO will stay at the scene until they complete their investigation.

GOLD CANYON, AZ – Authorities say a 3-year-old boy who was pulled out of a swimming pool Monday in Gold Canyon has died.

“I just can’t believe he’s gone,” the boy’s grandmother, Beth Sutton said.

According to Pinal County Sheriff’s spokesman Elias Johnson, deputies responded to a drowning call around 5 p.m. Monday on the 17000 block of  E. Paseo del Canto Street.

When crews arrived, they found the boy’s 27-year-old father performing CPR on him.

The child was blue in color and was not responsive.

He was transported to Arizona Regional Hospital by the Apache Junction Fire Department where doctors were able to establish a faint pulse.

The child was then flown to Cardon Children’s Medical Center in Mesa where he was in extremely critical condition.

The boy passed away around 1:15 a.m. Wednesday, according to Johnson.

The child’s grandmother said the boy and his father had been living at their home for nearly a year.

“Watch your babies. You have to have a minimum of one set of eyes on them at all times,” Sutton said.

The child was outside with a Labrador Retriever when he somehow fell into the water.

“We’ll never know exactly what happened,” Sutton said.

Deputies said there is a protective safety fence around the pool, but the entrance was left open.

The father claims he was away for approximately two minutes.

“Don’t walk by an open gate to your pool and say I’ll just be a minute. Fix it. Close it,” the boy’s grandfather, Tom Sutton advised other parents and grandparents.

A 4-year-old boy had a close call in a community pool in Maricopa mid-afternoon Sunday.

The unidentified boy was swimming with family members in the Villages subdivision near John Wayne Parkway and Smith Enke Road when he began to struggle.

“He went under and took a couple of big gulps of water, and family members pulled him out of the pool,” said Jon Sheaffer, a firefighter and spokesman with the Maricopa Fire Department.

Family members began CPR, and the boy coughed and vomited. He was taken to Cardon Children’s Medical Center in Mesa to be checked out as a precaution.

“It was fortunate, not necessarily that it happened, but that his family members were keeping an eye on him, or else it could have been tragic,” Sheaffer said.

Maricopa firefighters go into schools to deliver messages about fire and water safety.

“Whether that program had an impact, I can’t say … but it brings awareness,” Sheaffer said.

“Even if it’s a matter of seconds, keep your eyes on your little ones and other people’s little ones.”

GILBERT, AZ – A five-year-old boy died Sunday after being pulled from a community pool in Gilbert .

The accident happened Saturday at a neighborhood pool near Baseline and Val Vista.

Gilbert police tell ABC15, Clayden Hammond was found face down in the pool. The boy died at the hospital.

“He was still as a statue,” said Bella Padilla who tried to save the boy’s life.

That was was one of the first signs that caught the attention of seven-year-old Bella.

She said the five-year-old was under water for three or four minutes.

“I was like dad, he’s scaring me. I just kept coming closer and closer. My dad went over there and nudged him,” said Bella.

“He was hovering just above the surface of the pool, face first, lifeless. I didn’t get a response from him so I knew he wasn’t with us,” said Bella’s father Louis Padilla.

It was at that point Padilla, a decorated war hero, knew he had to move quickly.

“I brought him to the side of the pool and right away we started doing CPR on him. We never got a heartbeat, he had no response. He had a lot of water in him,” said Louis.

According to the Gilbert police department, Hammond was visiting from New Mexico. He came in town to visit his grandparents.

Witnesses tell ABC15 his grandparents were in the pool when the incident happened.

MESA, AZ – A 2-year-old girl is in extremely critical condition after being pulled from a backyard pool in Mesa.

Mesa Fire Department spokesman Forrest Smith said the girl was at a home near the Loop 202 and Gilbert with her family when she somehow made it out of the house and into the pool.

“You need to have adult supervision, and if you don’t have those other barriers in place like a fence, then you run into some problems,” said Smith.

Firefighters said the water was murky and it is unclear how long she was under the water.

The little girl’s family performed CPR until firefighters arrived. Fire crews said the house did not have a pool fence.

The girl was transported to Cardon Children’s Hospital.

Fire officials remind the public of the A, B, C’s of drowning prevention.

A is for adult supervision. Be close and responsible and have eye-to-eye contact with children around all forms of water.

B is for barriers, such as pool fencing, pool covers, pool safety nets and alarms at every door, with working batteries. Also consider extra latches.

C is for classes. Children of the appropriate age should take water-safety classes; adults should take CPR.