Toddler and babysitter drown in Lawrence pool

A house painter on Wednesday pulled a babysitter and a toddler from a backyard pool at 2 Beechwood Drive in Lawrence. The 3-year-old toddler the woman was tending to was unable to be resuscitated. The babysitter was brought to the intensive care unit of St. John's Episcopal Hospital, but reportedly died later. Police said they believed that she had been in the pool and holding the little girl, when she lost her footing and drowned after drifting from the shallow end to the deep end.

Police responded to a call made by the painter, whose identity was not released, at around 2:30 p.m. after the deceased girl's 5-year-old brother went to the front of the house to tell the painter he saw the two victims floating in the pool. The painter, according to Nassau County Det. Lt. Kevin Smith, first got the toddler out of the water, then brought the babysitter out. The painter's cell phone was apparently water-damaged by his plunge into the pool. He had to use the house phone to call 911 after attempting CPR on both victims. The child was pronounced dead.

This story was updated at 9:20 a.m. June 24.