What to Know
- One witness told reporters that he gave CPR to both children, with just one of the children responding, before crews arrived.
Two young brothers died after being rushed to the hospital following a drowning incident inside of a North Lauderdale apartment complex pool.
Witnesses say they saw the children laying on the ground near the pool at the complex located at 1200 Southwest 50th Avenue around 11 p.m. Wednesday night.
The mother of the brothers, who identified them as 6-year-old Ja'Kye Joseph and 5-year-old Branario Minto, confirmed that they died in the incident.
"I'm so sorry, if I was there I could have saved them on time," a tearful Wildine Joseph told reporters.
One witness told reporters that he gave CPR to both children, with just one of the children responding, before Broward Sheriff’s Office Fire Rescue crews arrived and transported both boys to the hospital.
"I heard them screaming to call the police, I looked out my bedroom window and I saw them pulling them out of the water," witness Marie Fleming said.
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The boys' parents said they must have jumped the fence and got into the water. One of the boys had been taking swimming lessons, Wildine Joseph said.
"He was getting swimming lessons but he didn't really make it. He thought he could swim but he cannot swim, and I think the brother tried to help him so he jumped in too," she said.
BSO officials said the victims' 4-month-old and 1-year-old siblings were removed from the home by Child Protective Investigations Section.
Homicide detectives are seeking information from anyone who may have seen the boys as they made their way from their apartment to the pool area. The incident remains under investigation.
