6-year-old who drowned at Memorial Park allegedly alone for 20 minutes, documents say
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - New court documents indicate that the grandfather of the 6-year-old boy who drowned at Prospect Lake in late September, left the at-risk child unattended for at least 20 minutes.
According to a police interview Joseph Camacho gave at Memorial Central hospital, he and his grandson had just eaten lunch in his truck on Saturday September 30, before Camacho told police that he left his 6-year-old grandson in the truck for 20 to 25 minutes, while he used the bathroom.
Camacho tells police that when he came out of the bathroom, the boy had left the vehicle, and noticed a commotion down by the lake. It was there he realized the ambulance that was present, was for his grandson.
One witness cited in the arrest document, says that he saw the boy playing alone by the side of the lake for closer to 40 minutes.
A short time later -- a woman who had been windsurfing on the lake, says she spotted the child floating face-down in four feet of water.
After pulling him out -- she provided CPR while waiting another ten minutes for paramedics to arrive, which is when she says Camacho finally walked up to the scene.
Police note in the arrest documents they arrived to a call shortly after 3:00 p.m. on that Saturday.
Those documents go on to explain that another witness began searching for the boy's parent or guardian upon discovering the scene, and had come upon Camacho sitting on a bench nearby.
When he asked Camacho if he knew anything, he reportedly shook his head, before putting his head back down.
Camacho would later admit to police that he had gone to the liquor store earlier that day before arriving at the park to eat lunch with the grandson, and had drank a beer while parked outside Memorial Central hospital.
Camacho now faces charges of Child Abuse, and Crimes Against an At-Risk Person, both of which are felonies.
An "At-Risk" victim, according to Colorado law, indicates that the person has a disability of some kind.
If convicted the Child Abuse charge itself could land Camacho up to 24 years in prison.
