A family is grieving after a 1-year-old drowned in Margate on Tuesday, and is hoping the child's death serves as a reminder to other parents to always keep an eye on their kids.
A little memorial for Legend Love was set up Wednesday outside the home where it happened. Legend was supposed to turn 2 years old next month.
Watch NBC6 free wherever you are
WATCH HERE
On the day of the drowning, grandfather Anthony Johnson said he wasn't feeling well and went straight to his room to go to sleep after a long day of work. He left his 1-year-old grandson with his babysitter in the living room.
“I didn't even take him up yesterday, that's the first time I come and I didn't take him up, so that hurts me," Johnson said. "I didn’t take him up like this because I wasn't feeling well, and then I just wake up with the screaming and that's it."
Get local news you need to know to start your day with NBC 6's News Headlines newsletter.
SIGN UP
That screaming was from the babysitter who pulled Legend out of the pool. Johnson immediately woke up and sprung into action when he realized the toddler ended up in the pool.
“To me, that baby was dead already," Johnson said. "When I take him, I say, Legend — I can see it's like, nothing, and I pumped his belly, you see something come out of his mouth, and that's it, and I was sitting there, and I asked God to bring him through."
Johnson said God had a different plan. Legend was unresponsive before paramedics arrived. He was transported to the hospital and pronounced dead.
Local
“I enjoy every moment of that baby," Johnson said. "He's so happy with me, we play, we do everything."
Johnson said he’ll especially remember the night before the drowning.
“I walked with him all around the block, and come back, and he go back outside, and I said to his mother, he enjoy this. And he didn't know it was the last — that was the last walk with him."
According to Johnson, Legend accessed the pool through his bedroom. He was asleep and said the babysitter wasn’t paying attention.
So far this year, 18 children have drowned in Florida, according to the Department of Children and Families. There were 99 child drownings in 2023 and 93 in 2022.
Johnson hopes this tragedy serves as a reminder for all parents and caretakers.
“It's a bad experience, I wouldn’t want to relive this again, and I can tell anyone today with toddlers you have to pay perfect attention every minute because they will hurt themself," he said.
There were no safeguards around the pool. So far, no charges have been filed.
The family has set up a GoFundMe page to help with funeral expenses.
