America’s Got Talent contestant is charged after nephew, 4, drowns while unattended in pool for NINE MINUTES
A former America’s Got Talent contestant has been charged with murder after his four-year-old nephew drowned while in his care, with the boy allegedly left underwater for nine agonizing minutes.
Deshundre Vinson, 22, was arrested Wednesday on first-degree murder and three counts of aggravated child abuse, weeks after his young nephew drowned in a Chattanooga apartment complex pool, according to People and WTVC.
The incident allegedly unfolded while Vinson, who was babysitting, allowed the child and his six-year-old brother to walk roughly 0.2 miles to the building’s pool without adult supervision.
Police obtained chilling surveillance footage showing the moments before the boy’s death, as he appeared to slip into the pool, struggle in the water and sink beneath the surface without anyone noticing, according to the outlet.
The unidentified child was submerged for nearly 10 minutes before someone spotted him and dragged him from the pool, prompting frantic lifesaving efforts, the video allegedly showed.
Deshundre Vinson, 22, was arrested Wednesday on first-degree murder and three counts of aggravated child abuse, weeks after his four-year-old nephew drowned in a Tennessee apartment complex pool
Vinson gained national attention as part of the trio Citi Limitz, an R&B group that appeared on shows including America’s Got Talent as recently as last year
Vinson was taken into custody where a judge slammed him with a $750,000 bond, with his next court date scheduled for September 8 (pictured far right)
The child never regained consciousness and died five days later at the hospital, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by WTVC.
Vinson was taken into custody where a judge slammed him with a $750,000 bond, with his next court date scheduled for September 8.
He gained national attention as part of the trio Citi Limitz, an R&B group that appeared on shows including America’s Got Talent just last year after going viral on TikTok, as well as The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2019.
The horrific incident unfolded on August 16, when Chattanooga police responding to an unrelated call around 6pm heard screams coming from the pool area at an apartment complex off Central Avenue.
Officers saw a young boy receiving CPR who appeared to be unconscious and had been pulled from the water moments earlier, according to the outlet.
An investigation was launched, during which police discovered that Vinson had been babysitting several children on the day of the child’s death.
He allegedly allowed the two boys to walk to the apartment complex’s pool alone, despite a posted warning that children under 14 should not enter the water without an adult nearby.
Surveillance footage showed the four-year-old moving from the shallow end toward deeper water while holding onto the pool’s edge, keeping himself above the surface for a short time, WTVC reported.
