Friday May 10th, 2024 3:36AM

Gainesville child drowns on family vacation in Florida

By Associated Press

A 3-year-old Gainesville boy drowned in a canal moments after he arrived at a vacation home in the Florida Keys with his family.

Monroe County Sheriff's Deputy Rosa DiGiovanni's report said Andrew Austin Williams ran through a side yard that leads to a canal while his parents Erica and Jeffrey Williams unpacked their truck in the driveway of a home on Key Colony Beach Saturday evening.

The report says the mother went after the boy, but couldn't find him. She heard someone screaming about a child in the canal. Rodney McKinney of Maryville, Missouri, jumped in the water and carried the boy to a dock, according to the police report.

The boy's father started CPR, and the child began breathing, but died about three hours later at Fisherman's Community Hospital in Marathon, Florida.

Funeral services for Andrew Austin Williams were held Thursday, July 20 at Central Baptist Church in Gainesville. 

AccessWDUN Staff contributed to this report. 
 

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