MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A grieving mother and father spoke with Local 10 News after their 3-year-old autistic son drowned in a southwest Miami-Dade canal early Saturday morning.
Laeticia Elyze, the mother of Kayden Petit-Foer, said her son wandered out of their home just after midnight, walked down the street, and fell into a canal.
“I took my daughter a shower (and) when I stepped out of the shower, I realized the door was open and that’s when I noticed my son got out,” she said.
The family said they desperately looked for the child, who they say was autistic.
After calling the police, officers told Elyze that they had found the boy unresponsive in a canal about 150 yards away from the family’s home.
Police said Kayden had walked around 150 yards down the street to an opening in a fence nearby and fell into the canal.
“I was devastated because I know once he goes into the water, he will drown. He does not know how to swim,” Elyze said.
Miami-Dade police told Local 10 News that officers responded to a report of a missing 3-year-old boy when they found the toddler unresponsive in a canal close to his home.
Authorities said they began to perform CPR and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue transported the boy in critical condition to Baptist Health Homestead Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Kayden’s family, who described him as “smart and sweet,” said he had never wandered down the street before.
“I’m losing my mind right now because I don’t know what to do right now,” said Kayden’s father, Jean Willey Petit-Foer.
“He be singing the wheels on the bus, that’s his favorite song. He loves cars. He loves to play with the wheels on the cars,” said Elyze.
Detectives said they are actively working to find out more about the circumstances of the incident and did not confirm if the toddler’s parents will be facing any charges.
Florida is among the states in the country with the highest drowning death rates in the U.S., according to The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A swimming program is ongoing in memory of twin boys who drowned earlier this year in Miami-Dade County.
Parents and students are encouraged to enroll in the Prosperity Social Community Development Group Inc. summer camp. For more information, visit this page or call 305-681-0701.