MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The murky pond, obscured by trees and behind a residential area in Oakhaven is pretty hard to get to. But someone how a 3- and 5-year old found their way there Tuesday afternoon and it turned tragic.
Rescuers arrived to the pond around 1 p.m. Two children were in the water and rescuers needed boats to reach them.
“We have one 3-year-old that has been transported by Unit 16 to LeBonheur. We are in the process for searching for the 5-year-old,” said rescuers on a recording of emergency calls on Broadcastify..
The children were eventually pulled from the pond, but unfortunately one of them died. Memphis Police on Wednesday confirmed the name of the 5-year-old who died after a water rescue in Oakhaven on Tuesday as Deleion Taylor. A 3-year-old who was taken to a hospital was not identified.
The pond sits behind a home off Prescott, and there is no fence around it. We tried to speak to the homeowner, but no one answered.
A lot of the neighbors say they didn’t even know the retaining pond was there. But the pond backs up to houses on the street where we are told the children lived.
A man leaving a house on Shemwell Avenue told us the children lived there, but he would not give his identity. From our vantage point there didn’t seem to be a fence behind the house to separate it from the pond on the other side of the trees.
Neighbors still question how a 3-and 5-year old were able to make their way to the water.
“I watch my kids all the time. They can’t go out of my house unless they unlock my door and they can’t do it,” said one neighbor.