More Information Released About Child Found Unresponsive in Friend’s Pool

The Richmond County Sheriff's Office has released more information about the circumstances surrounding the death of a two-year-old child. The child was found unresponsive Sunday in a family friend's swimming pool.

Domonique Murray and two of her children, including 2-year-old Justus Hyman, were at a home in the 3400 block of Merrimac Avenue. At some point, Hyman reportedly went out the back door of the living room without anyone noticing.  Investigators say he wandered around the pool unsupervised for about 10 minutes.  When Murray noticed he was missing, she found him a short time later, unresponsive in the pool.

The sheriff's office says, "At 3:29 pm, Justus Hyman falls in to the shallow end of the pool and was not discovered by anyone until 3:50 pm, when Domonique Murray pulled him out of the pool and began chest compressions."

Hyman was rushed to Augusta University Medical Center where he died the following day.  Officials say he had suffered a brain hemorrhage.

Murray was charged with second degree Cruelty to Children and is being held at the Charles B. Webster Detention Center.

A statement from Richmond County Sheriff Richard Roundtree today says, "We are aware there have been many comparisons to the drowning death of this child to the drowning case of a child in another county.  We have no jurisdiction as to how another agency decides to pursue or not pursue criminal charges based on their investigation.  We can only proceed by the facts and circumstances presented to us at the time of our incident.  This is still an active investigation so all the details cannot be revealed at this time."