Drownings Take Lives of Boy, 3, Man, Two 16-Year-Old Youths

Two 16-year-old boys were found drowned Sunday in the back-yard swimming pool of a Chatsworth house, authorities said.

Two other unrelated drownings, one of a 3-year-old boy, were also reported Sunday.

Jeffrey Vega and Kyle Sickinger, both clad in swim trunks, were discovered about 4 p.m. lying at the bottom of the pool at the latter boy’s house in the 19700 block of Lemarsh Street in Chatsworth, authorities said.

Paramedics pronounced the boys dead at the scene, Los Angeles Fire Capt. Steve Ruda said.

Detectives found a small aerosol can bobbing in the pool with the two victims, but the label had been torn off, Los Angeles Police Lt. L. A. Durrer said. The contents of the can, which bore a Department of Transportation serial number, are being investigated.

Durrer said the deaths were being regarded as accidental, with “no sign of foul play” marking the scene or the bodies. Next-door neighbor Larry Lewis said he heard no cries for help or splashing before the bodies were discovered by Sickinger’s older brother.

The mother was apparently asleep inside the house when the discovery was made, Durrer said.

Friends of the family said the woman, a computer sales agent, and her two sons moved into the home only a few months ago from a rented townhouse nearby.

In Pacoima, a 3-year-old boy was discovered in a swimming pool about 7:20 p.m. in the 13000 block of Vaughn Street, authorities said. The boy was taken to Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, where he was pronounced dead about 7:45 p.m., hospital officials said.

In Arleta, Octavio Ramos, 45, was found dead in his swimming pool by his brother-in-law about 6:20 p.m. in the 9400 block of Obeck Avenue, Police Sgt. William Yarbrough said. There was no evidence of foul play, police said.