Family of 2-year-old who drowned in Central Florida home day care pool working to change laws

By Gail Paschall-Brown

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    SEMINOLE COUNTY, Florida (WESH) — It’s been three months since a 2-year-old Seminole County boy drowned in a home day care pool.

His family just found out no charges will be filed, but his grandmother is vowing to make sure her grandson is not forgotten, and other children are protected.

“He had the best smile in the world. He had the most infectious giggle. He just made every day brighter,” said Wesley’s grandmother, Libby Baity. Two-year-old Wesley Seth Rowley was Baity’s only grandson and her daughter’s only child.

On May 9, he fell into the pool at the Adkins Family Day Care Home in Chuluota.

Rowley later died at the hospital.

The medical examiner determined the cause of death to be accidental drowning.

“Wesley just pushed the gate open and walked in. She left the children unattended and outside to bring another child inside to use the bathroom,” Baity said.

The Seminole County State Attorney’s Office said, “There was insufficient evidence to proceed with criminal charges.”

We went to the day care home, but no one answered.

To protect other children, Baity is pushing for “Wesley Seth’s Law for At Home Day Care Regulations.”

Some of the safeguards include automated external defibrillators.

Wesley Seth’s Law includes:

Mandatory AEDs and proper training for all day care staff Appropriate safeguards around the pool Two-barrier system “Yes, she had the mesh fence. He was able to push through the mesh fence. If she had an alarm in the pool, she would have heard him the second he hit the water, and he could still be here today,” Baity said.

She adds there has to be additional staff:

“Just a body so there is somebody watching these children so that never a child is left unattended,” Baity said.

She started the petition three weeks after Wesley’s passing and has more than 16,000 signatures and hopes Wesley Seth’s Law will become law.

“Even if it’s one more child that we’re able to save, it’s one more family that doesn’t have to go through what we are. That’s what’s important,” Baity said.

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