Drowning Victim Was Student At Wilson Elementary

A Wilson Elementary School student, 10, drowned in a private swimming pool in Framingham on Saturday night, July 18.

The Middlesex District Attorney’s office is overseeing the investigation, with Massachusetts State Police with assistance from Framingham Police. Authorities have not released the name of the girl, as of midnight, July 20.

Editor’s Note: Patch has chosen not to publish the name until authorities release it, which is expected today, July 20; but multiple school and town leaders have confirmed to Patch her name and that she attended the elementary school. At one point, she also attended Dunning Elementary School. She was attending an autistic camp this summer.

Framingham Police received a 9-1-1 call for a girl found unresponsive at the bottom of a swimming pool on Saturday night, just after 7.

The caller, using a cell phone, told authorities the victim was in a backyard pool at 110 Edgell Road, said Framingham Police Lt. Stephen Cronin.

Police went to that address first, and when they discovered there was no pool at that location, responded to the home where the pool was at -110 Edgell Drive.

“We checked the 9-1-1 tape and the caller definitely said Edgell Road,” said Lt, Cronin. “We don’t believe the delay had any factor in the incident.”

Framingham Police were the first responders on the scene, said Lt. Cronin.

An officer cleared the girl’s airway and administered CPR, said Lt. Cronin.

Officers attempted to use an automatic external defibrillator (AED) to revive the girl, but the AED did not detect the required heart rhythm and no shock was delivered, said Cronin.

The AED, which is designed for adults but can be used on children, can not be overridden by an operator, explained Lt. Cronin.

Police officers continued to administer CPR until the Framingham Fire and ambulance arrived.

The girl was taken to MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham, where doctors pronounced her dead later that night.

Lt. Cronin said detectives were told the family of the victim knew the family of the homeowners, and may be related to them.

He said someone at the party noticed the girl in “distress” and removed her from the water by the time police arrived. She was removed from the deep-end of an in-ground pool, said Lt. Cronin. Someone was performing CPR on her when officers arrived, he said.

Witnesses told detectives the girl was last seen on the slide before entering the pool. The water was 8 feet deep near the slide.

Lt. Cronin said he did not know if the girl hit her head while entering the pool.

He did say that foul play is not suspected, and based on detectives interviews, alcohol did not play a part in the drowning, meaning adults were too intoxicated to watch children in the pool.