McKinney girl, 9, drowns at Apex Centre pool, investigation continues

A 9-year-old girl drowned Saturday at McKinney’s Apex Centre water park and pool, turning a place built for summer recreation into the center of a still-open investigation. City officials said they are cooperating fully with appropriate agencies as they try to determine what happened.

The City of McKinney said it was “devastated by the loss of life of a child” and extended condolences to the girl’s family and loved ones. Officials have not released additional details, saying the incident remains under review.

The tragedy puts renewed attention on the city’s largest aquatics destination, the Apex Centre at 3003 Alma Road. McKinney describes the 80,000-square-foot facility as home to an indoor competition pool, indoor and outdoor leisure pools, a supervised playroom, classrooms and party rooms. City materials say the center offers three pools for fun and fitness, with indoor pools available year-round.

The drowning happened at the start of McKinney’s 2026 summer pool season. The city’s pool schedule lists the summer season as open daily to the public from May 23 through August 11, a period when neighborhood families and summer programs are likely to increase foot traffic at city pools. The indoor leisure pool was closed Sunday, May 31, after the incident.

For parents, the case is a grim reminder of how quickly a water emergency can turn fatal even at a municipal facility. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury death for children ages 5 to 14, with more than 4,000 unintentional drowning deaths each year in the United States. The agency said drowning deaths rose in 2020 through 2022, averaging more than 4,500 a year during that period.

Texas Department of State Health Services pool rules are designed to set minimum standards for operation, safety, signage, enclosures and other features intended to reduce the chance of drowning or injury. As investigators review the McKinney case, those standards and the city’s own supervision practices will be at the center of questions about how a child died at a place meant for family use.