A nine-month-old baby drowned in a bathtub filling with water as his parents were asleep in their Florida home on Friday, say authorities.
Deputies from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office were called to a home in Hobe Sound on a 911 call about a baby turned blue and found face down in the water about 11:30 a.m., authorities said.
Upon arrival, deputies found Shawn Davis, 30, preforming CPR on the child, Cameron, said the sherrif’s office.
A nine-month-old baby drowned in a bathtub filling with water as his parents were asleep in their Florida home on Friday, say authorities. Deputies from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office are pictured at the home in Hobe Sound.
Upon arrival, deputies found Shawn Davis, 30, preforming CPR on the child, Cameron, said the sherrif’s office. Cameron is pictured from an image that was posted on Facebook
First responders took over life-saving techniques, but were unable to save Cameron. The baby was pronounced at a nearby hospital.
His mother, Heather Clifford, 29, said she had left the infant alone in the tub for about 20 minutes with two other siblings, ages 2 and 3, and that she had fallen asleep, reports WPBF.
Davis also was sleeping at the time the children were left alone in the tub. A reason for why they were alone is not clear.
Previous arrest records in Martin County show that Davis was arrested previously for failure to appear in court, violation of probation on a misdemeanor, battery, reckless driving, failure to register a motor vehicle and having no motorcycle endorsement on his driver’s license
Heather Clifford, 29, has prior arrests for violation of probation on a misdemeanor charge, giving false information to a pawn broker, dealing in stolen property and battery.
An autopsy to be performed on Monday is expected to determine Cameron’s official cause of death, and his parents could face criminal charges, authorities said.
‘It’s very suspicious, it’s very preventable and we’ll be consulting with the State Attorney’s Office on the possibility of [a] criminal charge going forward,’ Martin County Sheriff William D. Snyder told WPBF.
Heather Clifford is shown with a child in an image she used for her profile picture on Facebook
An image of Heather Clifford’s children that was used to update her Facebook cover photo
Snyder said his deputies responded to the home three times in the past, and that Florida’s Department of Children and Family, or DCF, has also been called.
A next-door neighbor said she and her husband called state child welfare officials a in recent weeks when the siblings were outside, barely dressed, and the parents were apparently asleep inside with the baby crying.
Shawn Davis is pictured from an image used for his cover picture on Facebook
The siblings have been turned over to DCF, which also is investigating.
Previous arrest records in Martin County show that Davis was arrested previously for failure to appear in court, violation of probation on a misdemeanor, battery, reckless driving, failure to register a motor vehicle and having no motorcycle endorsement on his driver’s license.
Clifford also has prior arrests for violation of probation on a misdemeanor charge, giving false information to a pawn broker, dealing in stolen property and battery.
The Martin County Sheriff’s Office posted an early report of the incident on Facebook (pictured)