3-Year-Old Boy Drowns At Miami Birthday Party

The Associated Press
August 13, 2001

MIAMI - A 3-year-old Plantation boy drowned in a pool while at a birthday party, the second time over the weekend that a toddler drowned during a family celebration.

Brandon Rodriguez was at his aunt's Kendall neighborhood home for his grandmother's birthday Sunday afternoon. He, along with about 10 other children, was playing in the pool when his aunt, Vivian Serralta, noticed that he was at the bottom of the deep end.

She pulled him out and performed CPR until paramedics arrived. Brandon was pronounced dead at Baptist Hospital.

On Saturday, a 4-year-old boy drowned when family members failed to notice he had sunk to the bottom of a pool during a birthday party.

Nathaniel Rivera was staying with his grandparents while his mother was out of town, police said. Several family members, including adults, gathered to celebrate a cousin's birthday at an apartment complex and went swimming.

Copyright 2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.