Child drowns at an apartment complex pond in Columbus' Eastland area

A young child drowned Friday afternoon in a large pond without a security fence at an apartment complex on Columbus' Southeast Side — the second such drowning in eight days in the city and at least the third in the metro area in a month.

The apartment complex, Hartford on the Lake, has had several other drownings since 2011, most due to cars driving into the water.

Columbus police received several 911 calls just before 4 p.m. about a child who went under the water in the 4500 block of Lakeside North in the Hartford on the Lake complex, which is off the east side of South Hamilton Road between Interstates 70 and 270.

Columbus Division of Fire divers were in the water at 4:23 p.m., Battalion Chief Steve Martin said.

Within four minutes, the child, whose age was estimated to be 1 to 2 years old, was pulled from the pond and resuscitation attempts were made.

The child was taken to Nationwide Children's Hospital, where they were pronounced dead at 5 p.m., police said.

The large pond is surrounded by apartment buildings. Several of the buildings are about 20 feet from the water. There are no barricades, fencing or railings based on Google photos of the property.

Columbus police homicide detectives were responding to the tragedy. The name of the child and other details were not were not immediately available.

Earlier this month, Esther Mutivito, 4, drowned Sept. 2 on the city's Northeast Side after the nonverbal child's family reported her missing. She was last seen around 2:30 p.m. that day in the area of LeMarie Court and Morse Road and presumed to have drowned.

She was found the next day, Sept. 3, in what officials called a retention pond, near Belcher Drive and Dresden Street at the Whispering Oaks Apartments complex, that was surrounded by stones but no fence. The pond is about a half-mile from where anyone last saw her.

On Aug. 12, a 10-year-old Pataskala boy died after being pulled from a retention pond, near his home on Shelter Cove Drive in the Broadmore Commons community, which had a partial fencing around it.

For subscribers: Father of 9-year-old who drowned in retention pond says a fence may have prevented her death

The boy, who was autistic, previously wandered away from home, and the boy's parents called parents within six minutes of him leaving home.

The city of Columbus sued Hartford on the Lake in 2018 following numerous code violations. The lawsuit reportedly was settled a year later.

But the pond has repeatedly been a lethal danger.

On July 8, 2019, Leta Galagalo, 11, died at Nationwide Children's Hospital, after the SUV he was in drove into the pond two days before.

Another occupant, Dereje Kume, 55, of Columbus, also died after the Columbus dive team pulled them from the vehicle. Two other juveniles, 7 and 9, survived as did the driver, Chaltu Guyo, 39, of Columbus..

Guyo was attempting to park the SUV on Shore Boulevard West, which runs along the apartment complex's pond, when she lost control, ran over the curb, across a short patch of grass and through a chicken wire fence into the water, police said.

At least six other people have died in the pond since 2011, The Dispatch reported at the time. Four died from two incidents involving vehicles entering the water, and a boy and a man who tried to save him drowned after plunging through ice on the pond.

Columbus city code requires fencing and locking gates around public and private pools. However, there are no such requirements for retention ponds, typically used for stormwater runoff to prevent flooding.

Requiring safeguards for ponds would be costly and impossible without political will, said Tony Celebrezze, deputy director of the Columbus Building and Zoning Services Department.

"Even if the City Council decided to pass something, it would be very difficult, maybe impossible, to do something retroactively," said Celebrezze, who works with developers and builders on compliance issues.

"It definitely would add significant cost, whether they use a chain link fence or try something to make it look prettier," he said. He said he's surprised that insurance companies don't require extra protections or higher premiums for such hazards.

Meanwhile, safety experts are frustrated with such tragic, but preventable, outcomes.

"Kids are naturally drawn to water," said Martin, acting spokesman for the Columbus Division of Fire. "There's just a natural inquisitive nature to see what's there.

"Parents have to be vigilant to monitor their kids, make sure they know the dangers and to know where they are," he said. "Parenting's hard and kids are lightning fast."

Those who see a child in a pond should first find a pole or stick to extend, a raft or boat if one is available and always call 911, Martin said.

Editor's Note: Due to incorrect information provided by Columbus police, an earlier version of this story incorrectly spelled the first name of Esther Mutivito, the 4-year-old girl who drowned in a retention pond.

dnarciso@dispatch.com

@DeanNarciso

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: For the third time in a month, a child drowns in Columbus-area pond