Cops: Girl, 3, drowns despite nanny's try

A 3-year-old girl who drowned in her family's Brookville pool fell into the water as her nanny picked up debris with the girl's older brother in the backyard, Nassau County police said Tuesday.

The 57-year-old nanny, who police said was a poor swimmer, jumped into the in-ground pool after being alerted that the little girl was in trouble Monday by the child's 6-year-old brother, but "feared she was going to drown herself and got out of the pool," said department spokesman, Det. Lt. Kevin Smith.

The nanny also tried snaring the girl from outside the pool, but couldn't get her out of the water.

"She nearly lost her own life," Smith said of the nanny.

The girl, identified as Ava Goddard of Beech Tree Lane, was pronounced dead a short time after the 11:53 a.m. incident, at 1:52 p.m., at Syosset Hospital in Syosset.

The drowning is being investigated as an accident, police said.

The nanny, whose first language is Russian and who does not speak English well, rushed to a neighboring home on Evans Drive, where a maid called 911, police said.

The maid's employer, who was home at the time, ran to the two-story colonial home in a private community and was about to go into the water to rescue the girl when officers from the Old Brookville Police arrived. An officer jumped in, pulled the child from the water and performed CPR, but was unable to resuscitate her.

Only the nanny and the girl's brother were home at the time of the drowning.

The pool is between 4 and 8 feet deep. Police did not say the depth of the water where the girl drowned.

During the investigation, police enlisted the help of a Russian-speaking officer to translate.

No one answered the door at the family's home and calls to phone numbers listed for the homeowners were not returned.