4-year-old who drowned in Rhode Island pool being remembered as services announced

A 4-year-old who died recently in a drowning is being remembered.

On July 23rd at approximately 3:15 p.m., North Providence Police and Fire Departments were called to Cassisi Court for the reports of a child that was just pulled from a pool who had been under water for an undetermined amount of time. 

Upon arrival, officers observed members from the North Providence Fire Department performing CPR on an unresponsive 4-year-old boy.

The child was immediately transported to Hasbro Hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later. 

He has since been identified as Eli Asher Sousa of North Providence.

According to an obituary, Eli “was quick to welcome everyone and make everyone around him feel loved. He loved playing with his big brother, and they could be found many days practicing for their “rock band.” He loved Peppa Pig and would constantly greet people using Peppa Pig characters so others could guess which character he was today. He loved sending Alexa announcements, letting everyone know he loved him, or just watching the emojis on the TV when they were announced. He was brilliant and loved reading books, cards, and anything he could. He loved spending time at Hand in Hand preschool, where his loving teachers cared greatly for him.”

Eli also loved to go to church on Sunday’s but most of all, loved his family.

According to WJAR10, the child’s grandfather was babysitting Eli and his 8-year-old brother when Eli somehow got into the above ground pool by himself.

“Somehow, Eli wandered off and he must’ve gone directly to the pool, because it was just moments later that his grandfather found him,” the family’s pastor David Vatral told WJAR. “The family absolutely had everything in place, the pool was away from the house, there were two locked gates.”

Visiting hours will be held on Friday, August 9th, from 4 -7 pm at Bethany Church of the Nazarene, 1275 Pawtucket Ave, Rumford, RI. In place of flowers, the family asks to consider contributing to their GoFundMe account, which can be found at https://gofund.me/b158d2af