Toddler apparently drowns in his family's swimming pool

BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) - A southern Illinois toddler apparently drowned in his family's swimming pool after he awoke while sleeping in a room with his mother, wandered outside and entered the pool, police said.

Bryce W. Coleman, who was 23 months old, was found unresponsive Wednesday morning in his family's in-ground pool by his mother after she awoke and couldn't find him, the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department said.

Deputies arrived at the family's home near Belleville and found relatives performing CPR on the child, who was later pronounced dead at a hospital, the Belleville News-Democrat reported.

County Coroner Calvin Dye Sr., who identified the boy, said he expected that an autopsy would be conducted.

The sheriff's department said the boy was sleeping in a room with his mother, while his grandmother was also in the home in a different room. After the mother awoke and couldn't find him, she and the grandmother began searching and the mother found him unconscious in the pool.

'Å“While the sheriff's department continues to investigate, preliminarily this incident appears to be a tragic accident where the child was able to exit the house on his own and make his way to the pool, which was not separated from the rest of the back yard and the house," police said in a statement.