Prattville teen dies after pool incident, driver charged in alcohol case
Police say a Prattville delivery driver sold alcohol to a 16-year-old, who later died after being found unresponsive in a Simmons Road pool. The driver faces homicide and alcohol charges.
Prattville police say a 16-year-old girl died after a pool emergency on Simmons Road became a criminal case centered on alcohol access, age verification and a delivery driver now charged in her death. Manoj Chitta was arrested and charged with sale of alcohol to a minor and criminally negligent homicide after investigators linked him to the delivery of alcohol that police say the girl consumed before entering the pool.
Officers and emergency personnel rushed to the home on June 3 after the teen was found unresponsive in a swimming pool. Life-saving efforts began immediately at the scene, and she was taken to the hospital. She later died from her injuries on June 5, according to the Prattville Police Department account cited in local reporting.
Investigators say the girl had consumed a substantial amount of alcohol before she entered the water. Police identified Chitta, described in the notes as a delivery driver working for a food delivery service and in the United States on a student visa, as the person who delivered the alcohol. Authorities say he failed to verify the juvenile’s age and that investigators also found communications between Chitta and the teen outside the delivery app’s platform.
The case raises immediate questions about how alcohol reached a minor in Prattville, how closely delivery businesses are checking identification, and how much off-app contact can widen the risk when age-restricted products are involved. The police account does not answer how the order was placed, what prompted the outside communications, or what safeguards were in place when the alcohol was handed over.
For Autauga County families, schools and law enforcement, the case has moved well beyond a pool rescue. It now touches the routines of home delivery, the obligations of adults who bring alcohol to a doorstep and the speed with which a lapse in verification can turn into a fatality. The investigation remains open, and the charges against Chitta are allegations only.
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