A swim teacher has been charged with involuntary manslaughter after a four-year-old drowned during a swimming lesson.
Lexie Tenhuisen had offered swimming lessons in a backyard pool in Georgia, which four-year-old Israel "Izzy" Scott was participating in on June 14, 2022.
As reported by People, Israel was one of 10 children taking part in the class that day and after encouraging the children to take a lap of the shallow end, Tenhuisen and the other students got out without realizing the four-year-old was still in the water.
Israel had somehow ended up in the deep end and was discovered lying at the bottom of the pool by the teacher's granddaughter who had come to remove the vacuum.
Tenhuisen jumped into the pool to retrieve him and administered CPR alongside a parent who was a registered nurse. When the emergency service workers arrived, they established a pulse in the four-year-old but he tragically passed away at the hospital.
In a press release, Augusta Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jared Williams stated: "Izzy Scott is not a case. He is not a file on a desk, nor an article in the news. He is a child whose loss has broken the heart of our community. He is a symbol of how we should cherish our little ones and hold them tight."
The death was first stated by the Burke County Sheriff's Office to be an accident, however, following an outcry that the teacher had to be held accountable by the law, she has since been charged with involuntary manslaughter.
"Why should a child so innocent, so precious, leave us so young? How could the law be so insufficient, placing no safeguards over the very people who are entrusted as lifeguards over our children," Williams went on in his press release.
Speaking to WFXG, Israel's father welcomed the change, stating: "Any time you leave a child under the care of someone else and you don't get that child back the same way that you sent them off, then that person ultimately is responsible, to whatever extent it may be."
A GoFundMe page was set up in order to raise awareness and change laws that will help further protect children taking part in swimming lessons.
Our thoughts are with all of Israel's loved ones.
.jpg_EaEEWf?tr=h-184&config=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)