Arizona Toddler Pronounced Dead After Pool Incident Found Breathing in Morgue

An 18-month-old child was found face-down in an in-ground pool at a Gilbert, Arizona, residence on February 8, 2026, during a Super Bowl gathering, @ABC reported. The child was taken to Mercy Gilbert Medical Center and pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m. A Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office transporter found the child breathing in the hospital cold room more than five hours later.

Multiple people at the hospital questioned whether the child was breathing after the pronouncement, including the parents and two officers. The parents said they believed their son was gasping for air. The officers reported seeing the child gasp and hearing an audible gasp.

Hospital staff told the officers the movements were agonal breathing, or air and gases leaving the body. One officer reported hearing a nurse say "I have a pulse" shortly before the time of death was declared. Doctor A. Toosi, identified in records as Aryan Toosi, responded by stating he was the doctor with the medical degree and to let him do his job, the officer recounted.

Toosi later apologized for the exchange. The doctor asked staff to stop life-saving measures and requested to call the time of death if there were no objections.

No one objected, and Toosi ordered another pulse check before declaring death. After staff realized the child was alive, he was air-lifted to Phoenix Children's Hospital. The child made significant strides but was expected to need physical therapy, the police report stated.

The child's medical records were not included in the report. The 157-page Gilbert police report recommends the parents be charged with child abuse for alleged negligence. It alleges the parents smoked marijuana in the garage and did not secure the doors, allowing the child access to the pool, and that multiple adults each assumed another was supervising the toddler.