A tragic incident unfolded at a pool party in Florida, where a four-year-old girl tragically drowned after being unnoticed for nine minutes. The incident, according to state police, occurred while the child’s mother was allegedly preoccupied with her cellphone.
Rosette Pierrecius now faces charges of child neglect resulting in great bodily harm. Despite these serious allegations, she has entered a plea of not guilty, as indicated in court documents.
The unfortunate event took place on May 9 during a birthday celebration. Pierrecius had attended the party with her daughter, who was dressed in swimwear but reportedly did not know how to swim. This information was detailed in a probable cause affidavit sourced by Oxygen.
According to the police report, Pierrecius explained that she had briefly left her daughter wrapped in a towel to use the restroom, entrusting her care to two other children, believed to be aged between 8 and 10. However, upon discovering the bathroom was locked, she returned only to find all three children missing.
In a heart-wrenching turn, another adult eventually noticed the missing girl at the bottom of the pool. Pierrecius, who was desperately searching for her daughter, had not seen her until it was too late. The incident serves as a stark reminder of the potential dangers at poolside gatherings and the critical importance of vigilant supervision.
But CCTV footage contradicted parts of her story.
Police wrote that the footage showed Pierrecius did not leave her daughter wrapped in a towel under the supervision of other children. Instead, while Pierrecius was allegedly looking at her phone and walking around the pool deck, the girl walked down the pool steps and inched her way into the deeper end until she was submerged underwater.
Investigators wrote that Pierrecius was “never” supervising the victim while she was in the water and at one point was seated in a lounge chair near the area where she claimed to have left her daughter.
The footage also showed that another adult pulled the 4-year-old out of the pool. She was transported to the hospital, where she later died.
When Pierrecius was brought to the police station, she admitted that she let her daughter play in the pool despite knowing she could not swim, police wrote in the affidavit.
Pierrecius also told investigators that she did not know the children she claimed to have asked to watch her daughter and that she never asked an adult to supervise her. She also said she thought her daughter was still in the chair when she left for the bathroom and did not realize she was in the pool.
The mom also said she drank six beers at the party. A preliminary breathalyzer test later showed she registered above the legal driving limit in Florida, police wrote in the affidavit.
The party was not child-friendly, according to authorities.
“I’m very comfortable saying that this party shouldn’t have happened there in the first place,” Bradenton Police Department spokesperson Meredith Censullo told ABC7 WWSB. “It was not a party that was meant for children. It was primarily adults that were there.”
The girl was not using a flotation device, said Censullo, adding, “This went beyond an accidental drowning to the point of neglect.”
An attorney for Pierrecius did not immediately return a request for comment from Oxygen.