Deputy has 'very emotional' meeting with mom of kids who nearly drowned

CONYERS, Ga. — For the first time, we’re hearing from a sheriff’s deputy who raced to save a 2- and 3-year-old from drowning in a backyard pool.

Lt. Scott Stewart told Channel 2's Berndt Petersen that he was just down the street when he heard the call at the home on Blackberry Lane in Conyers last week.

He raced to the home to find a brother and sister, ages 2 and 3, had been pulled out of a backyard swimming pool, barely alive.

"The mother came outside screaming that her child drowned in the pool.  I was there in 20 or 30 seconds. I was right down the street," Stewart said.  "One child was coming to -- the female.  The male child was in serious trouble. I gave directions to the person with the female child and started CPR on the male child."

Stewart said he continued to do CPR on the boy until paramedics arrived. The children were taken to a nearby hospital and then flown to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite.

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Deputies arrested Trevor Bohannon, 20, the boyfriend of the children's mother. Detectives say Bohannon was smoking marijuana in the garage of the house while he was supposed to be supervising the toddlers.

"The children had been left alone longer than the original charge that said 10 to 15 minutes. They were unsupervised, based on the report, about 45 minutes,” Stewart told Petersen.

Stewart said he visited the hospital Monday and met with the mother of the children.

"It was a very emotional time with me having a daughter of my own," Stewart said. “It was very emotional for both of us. She thanked me for what I did for her children."

The mother told Stewart that her little girl is back home, but the boy remains in intensive care.

"It's tough to get that image out of your head of a little baby. But you have to hope he does better and gets out of the hospital. It brings hope," Stewart told Petersen.

The lieutenant said the little boy is breathing on his own but not conscious. His mother is asking for prayers.

Bohannon was originally charged with reckless conduct. But Petersen learned Monday that the charges against Bohannon have been upgraded to second-degree cruelty to children, which is a felony.

He remains in the Rockdale County Jail with no bond.

Cox Media Group