Investigations continue into the recent deaths of two children who lost their lives in unrelated cases in Oakland County, according to a county spokesperson.
The Oakland County Prosecutor’s public information officer Jeff Wattrick told The Oakland Press that as of April 10 midday the cases were still being investigated and no criminal charges had been filed in connection with the death of a 4-year-old girl Sterling Heights girl who drowned at the Deer Lake Athletic Club in Independence Township in late January and the death of a 5-day-old infant killed last month in an apparent dog attack in a Novi mobile home community where she lived with her family.
In the Deer Lake incident, investigators said the child’s mother had left her to swim with five other kids — the oldest just 12 years old — and was in the club’s bar/restaurant when her daughter lost her life.
According to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, the mother and another woman had brought their six kids, ages 4 through 12, to the pool and left them without adult supervision, a direct violation of the facility’s posted rules prohibiting minors from swimming without someone age 16 or older present. The two posted signs also state there is no lifeguard on duty.
The child who drowned was removed from the pool by her sister, the sheriff’s office said, and the two women were then located. They had been in the bar/restaurant area for approximately 35 minutes at that point, the sheriff’s office said.
CPR was administered on-site, and then the child was transported by paramedics to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead, the sheriff’s office said.
Deer Lake Athletic Club (GOOGLE IMAGES)
The Novi incident happened at a residence in the 42000 block of Liberte in Oakland Glens, located off 13 Mile Road between Novi and Meadowbrook roads
Novi Police Commander Robert Manar said officers were dispatched to the home on a report of an unresponsive infant. A family member reported finding the baby with puncture wounds, and the wounds appeared to be consistent with an animal attack he said.
The apparent mauling happened at a home on Liberte Street in Oakland Glens, a manufactured housing community in Novi (Aileen Wingblad/Media News Group)
A dog was removed from the home, Manar said, and was subsequently euthanized by Oakland County Animal Control. Officials have declined to comment on the breed of the dog, with one official saying DNA analysis would be needed to identify the breed, which the county wouldn’t order.
According to social media posts and others who claim to have been familiar with the dog, it was a pitbull-mixed breed.
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