3-year-old dies after being pulled from backyard pool on Staten Island

MARINERS HARBOR (WABC) -- A 3-year-old boy has died after being pulled from a backyard pool in Mariners Harbor, Staten Island.

The incident happened at around 5:40 p.m. Thursday at 51 Maple Parkway.

3-year-old Edward Harris was rushed to Richmond University Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. CPR was started at the scene but Harris could not be resuscitated.

Police continued to investigate long past sunset in Mariners Harbor, trying to piece together how the 3-year-old boy got past a gate and drowned at the day care center where his own mother was working. He was missing for just 10 minutes before he was found in the pool.

"For a kid to drown it is scary, and in front of little kids," said Luis Ramirez, a neighbor.

From the air you could see the pool where 3-year-old Edward Harris drowned, and the gate that is supposed to be the last line of defense for children.

The Mother Byrd Family Day Care Center looks like any house in the neighborhood, but with children's toys scattered about the front yard.

It is licensed to take care of 12 children. Neighbors say it is often loud, but today.

"I saw an ambulance, I saw police, I saw firefighters there, and I saw family come out screaming, I didn't know what they were screaming about, but they were running out and looking for help," Ramirez said.

Those who walked out of the building could not talk about what happened, or about how a child could slip past workers, including his own mother.