A toddler was pronounced dead after a pool accident, but a detective who returned to photograph his body heard a gasp inside the morgue that night

An 18-month-old boy, identified as Vincent Lorenzo Fiordilino, was found breathing inside a hospital morgue nearly six hours after he had been pronounced dead in an emergency room, as reported by NBC News. The case is now under investigation by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. Investigators are trying to determine what happened during that window and the exact circumstances surrounding the boy’s earlier near drowning in a family pool.

The timeline began around 5:38 PM on February 8, when a 911 call was placed after the boy was found floating face down in the family pool. A relative attempted CPR before he was taken to Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, where an emergency room team that included a doctor identified as A. Toosi began working to save him. According to the police report, Toosi was seen checking a cell phone with a distinctive orange and black cheetah print case around 6:13 PM, shortly before he spoke with the boy’s parents.

A Gilbert police officer at the scene reportedly questioned Toosi’s diagnosis before the doctor returned to the emergency room. Toosi then said, “As long as there are no objections, I’d like to call time of death,” officially calling it at 6:20 PM and requesting a moment of silence. Both the boy’s parents and officers present said the child still appeared to be gasping for breath after he was declared dead, and when an officer raised the concern, Toosi said he had gone to medical school for a reason and asked to be allowed to do his job.

Staff kept hearing signs of life inside the cold room

At approximately 7:18 PM, a detective on the scene reported hearing another audible gasp as staff prepared to move the toddler to the hospital’s cold room, which is kept between 36 and 39 degrees. When the same detective returned about an hour later to photograph the body, he again reported hearing what sounded like a gasp or release of air. The nurse on duty attributed the sound to agonal breathing caused by earlier compressions, oxygen, and possible pressure from family members.

The door to the cold room was closed at 7:23 PM, and it remained that way until a medical examiner’s team arrived at 11:52 PM to retrieve the body and found the boy still breathing. His family was notified immediately, and he was airlifted to Phoenix Children’s Hospital. He has since been released from the hospital.

The Gilbert Police Department has recommended that the boy’s parents be charged with child abuse, though no charges had been filed as of the report. The police report suggests the parents may not have realized their son had wandered off because their judgment may have been impaired by marijuana or other substances, and both parents told investigators they had smoked marijuana the morning of the drowning. Other unrelated viral stories drew attention online the same week, including a scam encounter with a tourist.

Mercy Gilbert Medical Center has confirmed it conducted an internal review of what it called a heartbreaking situation, though the hospital has not released the results or said whether Toosi remains on staff. Toosi, identified in reports as affiliated with the hospital, referred questions to his attorney, Scott Holden, who did not respond to requests for comment.

Drowning remains a leading cause of death for children in the United States, according to the CDC. It defines drowning as respiratory impairment from submersion or immersion in liquid, and notes that nonfatal drowning can still lead to brain damage or other lasting disability. For children between the ages of one and four, drowning is a more common cause of death than any other factor, and separately, a viral restaurant hospitality story out of Alabama was also circulating widely this week.

A crowdfunding page set up to help cover Vincent’s medical costs states that he remains on a ventilator and has avoided serious brain damage, though he will require ongoing monitoring and therapy.