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Police: Keep eye on kids

• Asia Brown's funeral was scheduled for Thursday, officials said.

J.D. Sumner

ALBANY — Members of a unit that investigates child deaths said Thursday that the death of a child who fell into a mop bucket filled with bleach and water died accidentally.

In a move designed to educate parents on ways to help reduce the chances of domestic accidents, Assistant District Attorney Chris Cohilas and Dougherty County Coroner Emma Quimbley spoke to the media Thursday, using the recent death of 13-month-old Asia Brown to illustrate the fact that dangers for children do exist at home.

Asia was found dead near a mop bucket Saturday at a Nottingham North Apartment Complex. Although complete autopsy results haven’t been completed, Cohilas said Thursday that it appeared that Asia died from drowning which was aggravated by exposure to bleach.

“It’s hard sometimes for parents to grasp that there are dangers around the home,” Cohilas said. “But this is just especially heartbreaking because it shows that it only takes a second for something to happen.”

Childproofing homes isn’t a new trend, but according to Quimbley, people often don’t take all of the possible precautions because of the added expense of buying safety equipment.

“Things are a lot more affordable today than they used to be,” Quimbley said. “That being said, truly no value of money is worth a child’s life.”

Both Quimbley and Cohilas advocated storing possible dangerous household chemicals like bleach and other cleaners in a tall cabinet, out the reach of curious children.

Cohilas said that the Brown case was made an even deeper tragedy from the fact that the child’s 5-year-old sister attempted to revive Asia with chest thrusts and rescue breathing before the child died.

“Everything that could’ve been done after the fact, was done. Unfortunately it was just a horrible tragedy,” Quimbley said. “And the family is definitely going to need counseling.”

The funeral for Asia was scheduled for Thursday in North Georgia, Quimbley said.

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