A father fell asleep after bringing his toddler daughter into a hot tub with him in the middle of the night, and she drowned, police in Florida said.
Deputies and rescue personnel responded to a home on Nice Court in Kissimmee just after 3:30 a.m. Dec. 13 regarding an unresponsive child who appeared to have drowned in a hot tub, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office said.
‘It’s very hard losing a niece this way, and then we have so much hurt for my brother because he’s just so distraught and tore up.’
A family from Washington, D.C., was staying at the residence, which was listed as an Airbnb, officials said.
The 20-month-old girl was transported to AdventHealth Celebration where she was pronounced dead shortly after 4:30 a.m., officials said.
Sheriff’s office detectives responded to the home to investigate the incident, officials said, and the father said he brought his daughter into the hot tub and fell asleep while holding her. The father reported waking up to find the child unresponsive in his arms while still in the hot tub, officials said. According to WUSA-TV, he said the child was face down when he awakened.
Following the investigation, detectives determined that the father — 33-year-old Reynard Tyrone Hough — was neglectful in the death of his daughter and arrested him on a charge of child neglect causing great bodily harm.
On Dec. 14, detectives added an additional charge of aggravated manslaughter of a child, officials said, adding that Hough was in custody at the Osceola County Jail.
Hough told detectives he was drinking that night, and police say alcohol likely contributed to him falling asleep, WESH-TV reported. Investigators told WUSA they saw various alcoholic drinks at the scene.
Hough also told detectives he ingested two different narcotics before getting into the hot tub with his daughter, WESH added.
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“It’s very hard losing a niece this way, and then we have so much hurt for my brother because he’s just so distraught and tore up,” Angel Hough, the sister of Reynard Tyrone Hough, told WESH.
Capt. Kim Montes with the sheriff’s office added to WESH: “I feel bad for this mom and dad; they were devastated, and they had another 6-month-old child at the home. We do know that watching two small kids can be challenging.”
Hough appeared in court last Monday and was issued no bond, WESH noted.
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Drowning, Florida, Hot tub, Father and daughter, Toddler, Alcohol, Drugs, Arrest, Child neglect causing great bodily harm, Aggravated manslaughter, Crime
