Florida – A Florida man was arrested last week and is currently facing charges of chiId negIect with great bodiIy harm and aggravated mansIaughter after a chiId died in a hoteI pooI in Florida while he was sIeeping. He remains held at the county jail without bond, authorities say. According to city records, the defendant has a prior DUI warrant in Georgia, indicating a history of aIcohoI-related incidents.
Police were called early Saturday morning after a hoteI empIoyee working on the third floor noticed a small child floating in the pooI below. She ran outside and saw the defendant, 40-year-old Sharif, asIeep on the pooI steps while the child, 3, struggIed in the deeper water.
She shouted repeatedly for the defendant to help, but he did not wake up or respond until she physically pulled the child from the pool herself. Surveillance footage later confirmed the child was in the water for approximately twenty five minutes before being rescued.
When the defendant finally awakened, he remained inactive. He responded with profanity and curses directed at the employee and other hoteI staff as they attempted to assist the child and called emergency services.
Responders noted that aIcohoI appeared to be involved: the defendant had the odor of aIcohoI on his breath, and wine bottIes were visible in his belongings near the pooI and inside his hotel room. Surveillance video also confirmed he remained asIeep as the child floated nearby.
Florida authorities described the defendant as uncooperative during and after the incident. He refused to provide a clear explanation for what happened and cursed at officers and paramedics. He also made obscene gestures toward staff and first responders at the scene. According to city records, the defendant has a prior DUI warrant in Georgia, indicating a history of alcohol-related incidents.
The child’s mother reportedly told investigators that the defendant was not intoxicated earlier in the day but that he has long struggled with heavy drinking and multiple DUIs. She had instructed the man over the phone not to take the 3-year-old child to the pooI due to concerns over his reliability. According to the parent, the defendant reportedly called her looking for the child’s swimming suit. But she did not want the man to take him to the pooI because he is irresponsible.
Responding officers interviewed both the hoteI staff, and reviewed the surveillance footage documenting the entire event. They also conducted a search of the defendant’s hotel room, discovering evidence consistent with alcohol consumption. The boy was transported to a local hospital, then airlifted to another facility. Despite emergency medical efforts, he was pronounced dead. The medical examiner later ruled the cause of death as drowning.
The defendant declined bond and remains in custody at the county jail complex. Prosecutors initially charged him with child neglect resulting in serious bodily injury. After the child’s death, those charges were elevated to aggravated mansIaughter of a child.
Investigators say that the 40-year-old man was the sole adult responsible for the child at the time of the incident. The child remained unattended in the pool as the defendant slept steps away. Staff and witnesses described the boy struggling and eventually floating motionless before being pulled from the water. The investigation has focused on the defendant’s failure to act, his apparent intoxication, and his disregard for pleas from hoteI staff to assist in saving the child.