Girl, 4, Drowns While Playing in Family’s Simi Valley Swimming Pool

A 4-year-old girl drowned Thursday while playing with her sisters and a young friend in her family’s swimming pool, according to police.

This is the second accidental drowning of a child this week and the third since June 7.

Wendy Pearson was pronounced dead at 12:18 p.m. at Simi Valley Hospital after being rushed by ambulance from her family’s home at 3364 Greenville Drive in the Texas tract housing community in north Simi Valley.

Police received an emergency call from the Pearson home at 11:42 a.m., after Wendy’s 12-year-old sister found her unconscious in the pool.

Two police officers responded and performed CPR on Wendy in the living room until firefighters arrived from a station less than half a mile away, said Simi Valley Police Officer Kathy Vigil. Police said CPR also was attempted by an unidentified family member.

Ventura County Fire Capt. Wayne Ferber said firefighters assumed resuscitation efforts on Wendy and carried her outside to the ambulance. Wendy never regained consciousness, he said.

A paramedic carried the child from the home because of her small size, according to one neighbor.

“The image. I’ve never seen that before in my life, just him carrying a little Raggedy Ann,” said neighbor Sammy Miller .

Funeral arrangements were pending. An autopsy is scheduled for this morning.

Officers said Wendy’s parents, Thomas and Charlotte Pearson, were inside their home as four young girls swam unsupervised in the backyard. The girls included two of Wendy’s four siblings--the 12-year-old sister, an identical twin sister--and a family friend, 11.

The girls were playing in and around the pool when Wendy’s 12-year-old sister spotted Wendy motionless at the bottom of the pool, police said. The sister jumped in and pulled Wendy to the surface, police said.

It was unclear who brought the child inside the house. Thomas Pearson, who answered his door Thursday afternoon, declined to comment on the incident.

Although there is no appearance of foul play, the case is being handled by homicide detectives and both parents were interviewed, police said.

Homer Croy, a city building inspector, said the Pearsons’ pool is surrounded by a 5-foot fence and self-closing gate, as required by the city.

Neighbors on this quiet suburban block described Wendy as a friendly little girl who, along with her twin sister, often played in the front and backyards of many of the other kids on the street.

Many recalled a fairly happy child who moved to the neighborhood two or three years ago and enjoyed playing with her scooter, dolls and toys. They say she skipped up the front doorsteps and sometimes plucked out a few lawn flowers.

Miller, who lives across the street from the Pearsons, recalled how her 8-year-old granddaughter, Lena, always hung out with Wendy.

“They played all the time,” said Miller. “They were busy little girls . . . I’m glad my granddaughter wasn’t here because we watched when they put her in the ambulance. It would have broken her heart. It’s horrible.”

Miller said she was especially sad for the parents and Wendy’s twin sister.

“They always seemed to be together,” she said. “When one was out the other was out.”

Neighbor Mary Reed , who runs a day-care operation from her home, said she installed a 5-foot iron fence around her own swimming pool years ago because she worried about a tragedy such as this one.

“I was upset, because I was thinking it could happen to anyone,” Reed said. She said her 4-year-old daughter, Brittney, often played on the front lawn with Wendy and her twin sister.

“They seemed like happy little kids,” Reed said. “I never heard them crying.”

Two Ventura County toddlers also were victims of water-related accidents this month.

On Wednesday, 15-month-old Jay Thompson of Ventura was taken off life support at Ventura County Medical Center after being found a day earlier floating underwater in the family bathtub.

Thompson’s mother, Christina Martinez, 21, told police she had left her son alone for a few seconds when she answered a telephone in another room.

On June 7, 18-month-old Camarillo resident Colton Clarke died after being found floating face down under a solar heating cover that covered a swimming pool owned by a relative in Oak Park.

The Ventura County Fire Department announced a safety campaign on the dangers of letting children play unsupervised near water the day after Colton’s death.

Some safety tips include never leaving children unattended around water and always making sure they swim with a buddy.

“The message out there is to urge people to be extremely safe around water--whether it’s a swimming pool, bathtub, lake or the beach,” said Ferber, with the county Fire Department.