3-Year-Old Child Dies Inside Home Swimming Pool as Parents Busily Smoke Marijuana Inside Their House
In a shocking incident in the state of Florida, two parents have been arrested after their child drowned in a swimming pool at home. Reports suggest that the parents neglected their child while they were busy smoking marijuana inside the house.
According to the New York Police (NYP), the child, who was suffering from autism, went to the swimming pool before drowning. The parents were allegedly negligent as they were smoking marijuana throughout the incident. It was reported that this was the fourth time the child had left the house alone.
Police stated that the parents of the boy, Barbara Ruiz and Lester Ortiz, had bloodshot eyes and reeked of “fresh marijuana” when officers arrived after Ortiz reported his child missing 30 minutes earlier.
Both parents are facing charges of involuntary manslaughter.
Police also discovered that the entire house had a strong smell of smoked marijuana as they were searching for the boy, Ethan Ortiz Ruiz, 3, whose body was found floating in a pool directly behind their house about 20 minutes later.
He was taken to Lake Monroe Hospital in Sanford, where he was pronounced dead.
According to the police, Ethan had left the house without his parents knowing at least three times before. Twice, neighbors who saw the young boy wandering around the apartment building brought him to the front office, unattended.
In a third incident in March, a building management staff member called the police after seeing Ethan once again alone outside.
Ortiz told officers that he had fallen asleep without realizing that the boy had left. During this visit to the apartment, the police noticed that the boy could unlock the front door by himself, despite additional security measures installed to prevent him from doing so.
Ortiz and Ruiz told the police that they had government-issued medical cards and admitted to smoking marijuana “regularly.”
