DCYF determines neglect where two-year-old found unresponsive in pool while RI mother was in basement smoking marijuana, doing laundry

The Department of Children, Youth & Families is disclosing the near fatality of a two-year-old from Cranston.

The Department had previous involvement with the family, but not at the time of the incident.

The near fatality was the result of a near drowning in an above ground pool at the family’s home on July 19, 2021. The Department initiated an investigation and has determined neglect contributed to the near fatality.

At approximately 2:00 p.m., Cranston Officers were dispatched to Wescott Place to assist members of the fire department after a two-year-old female infant was found unresponsive and face down in a swimming pool located in the backyard.

The infant’s mother, 36-year-old Jacqueline Ciccone, of the same address, allegedly left the infant under the supervision of her eleven-year-old daughter, along with three siblings, ages one, two, and three.

Ciccone indicated she was in the basement doing laundry and smoking marijuana when her eleven-old daughter told her that she could not find her two-year-old sister. Ciccone then ran upstairs and observed the infant lying face down in the swimming pool through a bedroom window. A next-door neighbor, who is a registered nurse in the military, heard the screams and ran over to assist by providing CPR to the infant who was not breathing and displayed discolored extremities. The nurse was able to resuscitate the child and locate a weak pulse.

Rescue personnel arrived and immediately transported the child to Hasbro Children’s Hospital, where she remains in the Intensive Care Unit.

It is believed the child had been in the water less than 10 minutes before being pulled from the pool and likely would not have survived if it wasn’t for the swift actions of the neighbor who performed CPR.

The swimming pool was not fenced in as required.

Ciccone was taken into custody and arraigned on one count of Child Neglect. She has since been released on personal recognizance and scheduled to appear for a bail review on August 5, 2021, at the Kent County District Court and a pre-arraignment conference on October 20, 2021, at the Sixth District Court in Providence.

Colonel Winquist stated, “This time of year, it is critical that children are never left supervised around any body of water, including neighborhood swimming pools. We are praying that the infant who nearly drowned responds to medical treatment and makes a full recovery. If it weren’t for the swift and heroic action of a neighbor, we would likely be mourning the death of this child.”