Toddler dies after being found unresponsive in Huffman pool

A toddler died Sunday evening after being found unresponsive in a residential pool on Lago Trace Drive in the Huffman area, and Harris County sheriff’s deputies responded about 6:10 p.m. The child was taken to a local hospital and later pronounced dead, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff Ed Gonzalez posted about the death before 8:45 p.m. on June 28 and described it as a tragic incident, saying his office’s thoughts were with the toddler’s family. Investigators have not released the child’s age or said how long the toddler had been in the water before help arrived. They also have not said whether barriers, supervision gaps or a delayed rescue played any role.

The case lands during one of the most dangerous stretches of the year for young children around water in northeast Harris County, where backyard pools, apartment pools and neighborhood gatherings become more common as summer temperatures climb. The CDC says drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 4, and that it can happen in seconds and is often silent. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said in a June 24 report that an average of 376 children under 15 fatally drowned in pool- or spa-related incidents each year from 2021 to 2023, and nearly 80% of those victims were younger than 5.

Texas officials have been pressing the warning this summer as well. A Texas Department of State Health Services injury-prevention newsletter said 22 children drowned in Texas in 2025 and pointed families toward the National Drowning Prevention Alliance for water-safety resources.

The CDC says formal swimming lessons can reduce drowning risk, life jackets help, and proper pool fencing can keep young children from reaching the water. For families in Huffman and across Harris County, that means checking gate latches, pool barriers and visibility around backyard and apartment pools now, before another child can slip out of sight. Detectives are still working to determine exactly what happened at the Lago Trace Drive pool.