Aurora – A family friend says two children found at the bottom of an apartment-complex pool Monday afternoon were not skilled swimmers.
Bethlehem Kahsay, 16, was pronounced dead, and her 11-year-old brother Yacob was clinging to life at Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center.
Joshua Tegegn said the Kahsay family had immigrated from Ethiopia and that the father worked for United Airlines at Denver International Airport.
Bethlehem was a 10th-grade student at Overland High School, he said.
A resident of the Raintree East Condominiums reported that a 6-year-old boy saw the teens in the water at the apartment complex’s pool and reported it to his father. The father called 911 at about 5:30 p.m. Monday.
The incident has been ruled an accident, according to Aurora police Detective Bob Friel. Bethlehem, who was wearing street clothes, might have been trying to rescue her brother, who was wearing swim trunks.
The boy had reportedly said that he was going to the pool because he was hot, Friel said. The children’s parents were both out of the house at the time.
The pool is locked, but each resident has a key, according to Friel.
The family also has an older son, who is living on his own, Friel said.
Tegegn said the family has lived in the apartment complex for about a year and a half.
