Colorado Senate candidate arrested in Key West child neglect case

A family vacation at a downtown Key West resort turned into a child-neglect arrest after police say a 4-year-old girl was pulled unconscious from the water and a witness had to start CPR at the pool area of Opal Key Resort & Marina.

Frederick Alfred Jr., 38, a candidate for Colorado State Senate, was taken into custody after officers were called just after 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 20, to 245 Front St. for a report that a child may have been drowning. Court documents quoted in reporting say Alfred had left his daughter and his 6-year-old son alone in the pool or hot-tub area while he went to a bar to get a drink. By the time first responders arrived, Alfred’s parents were gone, and a hotel guest had already pulled the girl from the water, found her unconscious and foaming at the mouth, and begun CPR.

The same witness also helped the boy, who had swallowed pool water while trying to help his sister. Police said Alfred returned carrying a drink and that officers smelled alcohol on him. The court filing says he initially refused to allow the children to go to the hospital, even after emergency crews warned that the girl could face delayed medical problems from the near-drowning. He later agreed to transport them, but officers had already gathered enough evidence to arrest him on two counts of felony child neglect without great harm.

Alfred was booked into the Monroe County jail. Under Florida law, neglect of a child without great bodily harm is generally a third-degree felony, while a case involving great bodily harm can be charged more severely as a second-degree felony. In this case, the charges indicate prosecutors were treating the episode as serious without alleging permanent injury in the filing.

The arrest could reverberate well beyond Monroe County because Alfred is running in a special election for Colorado Senate District 21. Ballotpedia lists a special Republican primary for June 30, 2026, and a general election for November 3, 2026. Colorado Politics said he was the sole Republican candidate in the race and that he was scheduled to be arraigned May 5.

That political backdrop makes the Key West case especially damaging. Alfred’s campaign site says he is focused on parental rights, schools, energy jobs and AI innovation, and identifies him as a husband, father and community leader. It also says he is the son of immigrants from Haiti and St. Lucia and a University of Florida chemical engineering graduate. In Old Town Key West, where a waterfront hotel sits busy near Mallory Square, the case stands as a stark reminder of how quickly a few minutes around water can turn a vacation into a near tragedy.