PALM BAY, Fla. – A man was arrested on a charge of aggravated manslaughter after a 3-year-old boy drowned in a Brevard County hotel pool.
Sharef Omar Smith, 40, of Georgia, was arrested after the boy drowned Saturday at the Quality Inn on Palm Bay Road in Palm Bay.
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Smith’s relationship to the boy was not disclosed.
According to an arrest affidavit, a hotel housekeeper told Palm Bay police that she spotted the toddler floating in the swimming pool while she was working in a third-floor room.
She said she ran to the pool and yelled at a man, later identified as Smith, to grab the child, but he was asleep on the pool steps and did not help, the affidavit stated.
The housekeeper pulled the boy from the deep end and tried to help him before first responders arrived, officials said.
Investigators said Smith, who was the only person with the boy at the pool, awakened but continued to refuse to assist and cursed at hotel staff.
According to police, the boy was lifeless in the pool for over 20 minutes. He was taken to a hospital and later died, police said.
The arrest affidavit stated that officers and detectives noticed the odor of alcohol coming from Smith. The boy’s mother later told authorities that Smith was not drunk when she left the hotel but added that he was a “heavy drinker,” according to the affidavit.
Smith, who police said has an active arrest warrant for DUI in Georgia, was taken to jail and was being held without bond.