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Infant dead in Saturday incident

STEUBENVILLE — Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla said he planned to meet today with Prosecutor Jane Hanlin to review details in the suspected drowning death of a 1-year-old boy at a house in East Springfield.

The sheriff’s department was called around 7:09 p.m. Saturday to 178 Mill St. about a domestic dispute in progress. A deputy arrived at the home and was told by a person at the house they “got him out.”

The father of the child, Dakota Byron, told the deputy his son, Thane Byron of Cadiz, had been found in the pool. Byron said the child was on the deck of the pool.

Tina M. Sandy, 37, the child’s grandmother, was holding the child on the ground, the deputy reported. Sandy said she found the child at the bottom of the pool, dove in and pulled him out. The deputy told 911 to send an ambulance to the house. The two deputies at the house began CPR on the child.

Ambulances arrived and began treating the child, prior to taking him to Trinity Medical Center West. A deputy said the child had no heartbeat or pulse and was not breathing, but was later told by hospital staff a heartbeat had returned and the child had been flown by medical helicopter to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Children’s Hospital.

Children’s Hospital notified the sheriff’s department at around 2:40 a.m. on Sunday that the child had died. The Allegheny County Coroner’s Office told Abdalla it had completed an autopsy on the child. The sheriff said he was waiting to receive the results.

A 16-year-old male who was the subject of the domestic incident was arrested and taken to the juvenile detention center on charges of domestic violence and disorderly conduct.

Abdalla questioned who was watching the child while everyone was arguing at the house.

“This baby shouldn’t be dead,” the sheriff said.

Abdalla said the father of the child and the mother had shared custody. The mother lives outside of Cadiz, he said.

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