Father of boys who drowned said he tried to save them, but he got scared

A father whose two sons drowned in a pond in Las Animas County made his first court appearance Friday.

Silvino Garcia, 33, faces several charges, including two counts of child abuse criminal negligence resulting in death and child abuse criminal negligence no injury.

His sons, Jorge Pancho-Garcia, 9, and Orlando Pancho-Garcia, 4, drowned last Friday in Weston, about 25 miles west of Trinidad.

Garcia spoke exclusively with KRDO NewsChannel 13 on Monday. He said his two sons were home alone when it happened.

According to Garcia’s arrest affidavit, Garcia, who used a translator to communicate with law enforcement, said he was working at the Robinson Sawmill and saw the children playing near the pond and fall in. Garcia told deputies, when questioned that Friday, that he tried to get the children out of the water after he saw them fall, but when he went into the pond, the ice cracked, and it scared him, so he got out. Garcia said that he was scared, because he can’t swim very well.

Witnesses, however, said Garcia was only standing by the fence, watching the pond. When asked if he tried to get help for the children, Garcia said a boy came by and he told the boy to go get his mom and help. Deputies also asked Garcia who watches the children, and he said that no one watches the children — they stay home alone while he’s at work.

According to the affidavit, Garcia also told deputies that he believes that his 2-year-old daughter, Sandra, was near the pond, trying to save her brothers, because she was wet from the waist down.

Garcia gave a different account of what happened when he received an unannounced visit from a case worker and a deputy on Wednesday. Garcia told deputies he heard Sandra crying the day of the drowning as he was loading wood into a truck, but he didn’t think anything of it. Ten minutes later, as her cry got worse, he thought something was wrong and went over to Sandra.

When he got to the pond, Garcia said he saw his sons floating in the water. He told deputies he ran for his friend and waited for him for about five minutes. When his friend didn’t come back, Garcia said he jumped into the pond but couldn’t reach his sons. According to the affidavit, Garcia said he then went to a friend’s place so she could call for help.

A witness told deputies that when she saw Garcia, he did not attempt to flag her down for help.

An employee at the sawmill told deputies after Garcia’s sons were taken to the emergency room, Garcia went back to work. A coworker, according to the affidavit, advised Garcia that he had to leave and go to the emergency room with his children.

While a friend was driving Garcia to the hospital, the affidavit states, “Silvino wanted to stop at Walmart before he went to the ER to cash his check. Silvino while at Walmart bought a cell phone and started shopping until a friend finally took him to the ER.”

A caseworker, mentioned in the affidavit, said that Garcia was working “quite a distance from where the kids were.”

A relative of the victims said the boys’ mother, Catalina Pancho, was in Pueblo with their youngest daughter, who was diagnosed with leukemia.