3-Year-Old Drowns In Hotel Pool In Irondale

IRONDALE, AL - A young girl in town for a family reunion drowned in the pool at the Red Roof Inn in Irondale over the weekend. The 3-year-old was visiting from Waco, Texas.

Irondale police and firefighters received multiple 911 calls at 8:40 p.m. Friday to the Red Roof Plus motel on Crestwood Boulevard, according to an Alabama Media Group report. More than 30 family members were reportedly at the motel pool, which stays open until 10 p.m., swimming and visiting when they noticed the girl was missing. They began to search for her and found her at the bottom of the pool.

Motel surveillance cameras captured the entire incident and showed the girl taking off her arm flotation devices at 8:20 p.m. and then jumping into the pool at 8:24 p.m. Though other children and adults were swimming at the time, no one noticed her struggling. At 8:39 p.m., a family member pulled her from the bottom of the pool.

First responders, who arrived on the scene at 8:43 p.m., rushed the child, identified and Kambri Whitaker, to Children’s of Alabama where she was pronounced dead at 9:30 p.m.

The investigation is ongoing.