Arizona prosecutors are weighing Vincent Fiordilino child abuse charges against two Gilbert parents after their 18-month-old son was declared dead following a near-drowning at a Super Bowl party, only to be found breathing by a medical examiner’s team hours later in a hospital morgue.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office is currently reviewing whether to formally file felony child abuse charges against the boy’s mother and father. Police have already recommended those charges, their report alleging that both parents admitted to smoking marijuana during the party and failing to keep adequate watch over their son.
What the Police Report Alleges
Officers concluded that Vincent was not seen falling into the backyard swimming pool because of ‘the potential of both parents’ state of mind being impaired by marijuana and/or other mind-altering substances.’ The report does not allege that either parent pushed the child into the water.
A conflict exists in the evidence over how long Vincent was submerged. The family’s GoFundMe states he was underwater for five minutes before being found. The police report, as cited by NewsNation, states that Vincent had been floating face down for approximately 10 to 15 minutes before first responders arrived. The police account, drawn from contemporaneous emergency-response records, is the more authoritative of the two figures.
Vincent was rushed to Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, where a doctor pronounced him dead at 6:20 p.m. His parents said their goodbyes at the hospital before being taken to a police station for questioning by detectives.
Vincent Fiordilino Child Abuse Case and the Morgue Discovery
Vincent was transferred to the hospital morgue at around 7:23 p.m. At approximately 11:52 p.m., a medical examiner’s team found him alive and breathing. His parents were still being questioned at the police station when they received the news, roughly five hours after the death declaration.
The police report records a troubling sequence of events before the transfer. When the certifying doctor went to inform the parents of their son’s death, a nurse interrupted to say, ‘I have a pulse.’ When an officer relayed that information, the doctor, according to the report, ‘arrogantly’ insisted that ‘he was the doctor, he has the medical degree, he went to medical school for a reason, and to let him do his thing.’
Officers present also alleged that the doctor directed hospital staff to stop performing lifesaving measures, citing the child’s condition. Both the parents and officers reported seeing and hearing Vincent take gasps of air; hospital staff described this as ‘agonal breathing.’ Police have confirmed the doctor will not face criminal charges.
Vincent was subsequently airlifted to Phoenix Children’s Hospital. The family’s GoFundMe campaign, organised by Yaleen Perez for beneficiary Alexus Fiordilino, describes an acute deterioration on arrival: his kidneys, lungs, and liver all began to fail. An MRI later identified two small areas of potential brain damage, though subsequent tests showed no lasting damage.
The GoFundMe, which covers ICU bills, airlift costs, and long-term therapy, had raised $20,807 of a $24,000 goal across 302 donations at the time of writing. According to the Daily Independent, Vincent was discharged from hospital five months after the incident and is now recovering at home, though he faces a lengthy course of ongoing medical care and therapy.
The family has indicated it plans to pursue legal action, Fox News Digital has reported. Neither Mercy Gilbert Medical Center nor Phoenix Children’s Hospital had responded to requests for comment at the time of that report.
The question of criminal liability now rests with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. Should prosecutors decide to charge, the parents would face felony child abuse counts under Arizona law. A charging decision, or a declination, would resolve the central legal question in a case that has already prompted scrutiny of the hospital’s conduct as well as the parents’ supervision of their son.
