Boy’s death is fifth Tarrant drowning of year

A 4-year-old boy died Sunday afternoon after he was found Saturday floating in a backyard pool in North Richland Hills.

Paxton Wages was pronounced dead at 4:57 p.m. at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office.

His death was the second child drowning death in Tarrant County in the past three days and the fifth this year.

On Friday, Sebastian Solorio-Carranza, 3, of Haltom City was pronounced dead at Cook Children’s. Sebastian had been found in an above-ground swimming pool Wednesday. Medical personnel administered CPR and took the boy to the hospital in critical condition.

Statewide, at least 65 children have drowned in Texas this year, according to the Texas Department of Family & Protective Services. Of those, 24 have drowned in North Texas, including nine in Dallas County, four in Collin County, and two each in Denton, Hood and Parker counties.

Last year, 73 children drowned in Texas.

In a news conference last month, Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price said the problem is an “awareness issue.”

“It simply can't continue,” Price said.

In the most recent tragedy, emergency personnel had responded to a call for a possible drowning at about 6:30 p.m. Saturday at a home in the 8300 block of John’s Way in North Richland Hills.

Paxton and two other young children were in the back yard while their mother was in the kitchen, according to police.

“The children were told to not get into the pool,” police spokesman Keith Bauman told the Star-Telegram on Saturday. “The mom looked out later on, and the 4-year-old was floating in the pool.”

Emergency responders arrived at the home within minutes and performed CPR on the child before taking him to the hospital in critical condition, police said.

In another apparent drowning Saturday, Phillip Grantham, 46, was found unresponsive at the bottom of the backyard swimming pool at his home in the 5000 block of Glen Springs Trail in north Fort Worth, authorities said.

He was pronounced dead at the scene at 9:48 a.m., according to the medical examiner.

This story was originally published August 16, 2015 at 9:09 PM with the headline "Boy’s death is fifth Tarrant drowning of year."