Parents grieve loss of 10-year-old who was electrocuted, drowned in dad’s pool

A day at the pool turned tragic after a 10-year-old girl was electrocuted and drowned while swimming on Sunday.

McKenzie Kinley was in her dad’s backyard pool in Sacramento, Calif., when she touched a unsealed light fixture.

Her father, Cliff Kinley, was out running errands at the time and got “the most devastating phone call” he’d ever received in his life, he told CBS affiliate KOVR.

“As much as we know, she grabbed the pool light, and it electrocuted her,” Kinley explained to the publication. “Thank goodness it didn’t get anyone else, because there were four other children in that pool.”

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“No one should feel the pain of losing their baby,” Lisa Moore, McKenzie’s mom, told ABC 7.

Authorities arrived at the Citrus Heights location in response to a call regarding a girl who had apparently been electrocuted and subsequently drowned as a result, police originally said.

“It appears there was a light that was being repaired,” police spokesman Lt. Kris Frey said in a statement. As of this writing, it’s unclear if the light was in the pool or not when the incident occurred.

After failed attempts at reviving her on the scene, the girl was pronounced dead at the hospital later that afternoon. Citrus Heights officials are calling it a tragic accident.

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A GoFundMe was set up by local Kayla Furrer to assist the family with any funeral costs.

“We are completely shaken and in shock that this could even happen and to take a beautiful little girls life away is unimaginable,” the page reads.

So far, the page has raised over US$15,000 from nearly 300 donors, and it’s only been two days since the tragedy.

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meaghan.wray@globalnews.ca