PPD: No Criminal Charges Expected In Drowning Of Girls, 5 And 8, In Neighbor’s Pool

June 9, 2026

No criminal charges are expected after two girls, age 5 and 8, drowned in a neighbor’s pool Monday evening.

Pensacola Police were called to the 500 block of Gerhardt Drive just after 6:30 p.m. in reference to two missing girls and began a search around their home and in the immediate area. Despite life-saving measures, both girls were pronounced deceased at the hospital.

PPD Chief Eric Winstrom said Tuesday morning that there was no negligence in the incident. He said the pool was protected by both a privacy fence and a second fence around the pool, both of which were up to code. He said officers believe the 8-year-old scaled the fence and then opened a gate for her younger sister.

Officers also believe there was no wrongdoing by the parents, and the girls snuck out prior to the incident.

The investigation is continuing.

File photo.

Comments

3 Responses to “PPD: No Criminal Charges Expected In Drowning Of Girls, 5 And 8, In Neighbor’s Pool”

  1. Steve on June 10th, 2026 2:55 am

    Something went awful , terrible, heartbreaking WRONG !

  2. Suz B on June 9th, 2026 2:39 pm

    Oh Laurence, this is heartbreaking. I know it was an accident and I hate seeing it’s the same children that were missing before. I had hoped the children would survive.

  3. Laurence on June 8th, 2026 10:40 pm

    This is awful. I live in the area. This exact thing happened about 6 months ago, I was out walking my dog when a woman drove up to me frantic saying her girls were missing and she was trying to find them. The cops were called and the girls were found about 30 minutes later. These are those same girls.





Have a comment on this story?

We welcome your comments on this story, but there are some rules to follow::

(1) Be Nice. No comments that slander another, no racism, no sexism, no personal attacks.

(2) No Harrassing Comments. If someone says something bad about you, don't respond. That's childish.

(3) No Libel. That's saying something is not true about someone. Don't do it.

(4) Keep it clean. Nothing vulgar, obscene or sexually related. No profanity or obvious substitutions. Period.

(5) NorthEscambia.com reserves the right to remove any comments that violate our rules or we think to be inappropriate. We are not responsible for what is posted. Comments may not appear right away until they are approved by a moderator.

(6) Limit your comments to the subject in this story only, and limit comments to 300 words or less. Do not post copyrighted material. Comments will not be added to stories that are over 30 days old.

(7) No posts may advertise a commercial business, political candidate or political group, or link to another commercial web site or political site of any kind.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News 

  NEfb