A 2-year-old boy was rushed into medical care on Friday morning after he was found in a backyard pool at a Peoria home, but was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.
Parents began performing CPR at the home near 83rd Avenue and Cactus Road, and paramedics took over when they arrived.
The boy, identified as Ezra by family friends, was unresponsive as he was being transported to Banner Thunderbird Medical Center. He was pronounced dead upon arriving at the hospital at 11 a.m.
Peoria fire spokesman Tim Eiden say the boy's father found the child, Ezra in the pool, but it was unclear how long he had been in the water.
Family friend Dakota Culbertson says he talked to the boy's father after the incident occurred.
"He was breaking down crying," Culbertson said. "He's like, 'Ezra's dead.' and I said 'What?' and he just told me Ezra drowned."
Culbertson explained the boy's father loved him more than anything in the world.
"He was very energetic; very playful," Culbertson said. "He was so young but had so much ambition; he would walk around and talk and talk and talk."
Officials have not yet said how the boy made his way out to the pool.
Eiden said police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.
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