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Coroner’s office rules drowning death of child as accidental

YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning County Coroner’s Office has ruled the drowning death of 1-year-old Londyn Cayson on Sept. 29 in a swimming pool on Ridgelawn Avenue on the West Side as an accident.

Londyn’s mother’s cousin, Adrianne L. Hudson, 31, of Ridgelawn Avenue was indicted last month on involuntary manslaughter and felony child endangering in Londyn’s death.

A man who was charged with misdemeanor child endangering in the case is no longer charged. The charge was dismissed Jan. 22 after authorities learned he is not Londyn’s parent or guardian, according to court records.

Hudson’s next hearing in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court is March 12 before Judge Maureen Sweeney.

The death certificate states that the 20-month-old girl was pronounced dead at 4:12 p.m. on Sept. 29. The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office conducted an autopsy.

The narrative with the death certificate states that the pool where the accident happened is the same address where Hudson lives and that the pool was in the backyard of the home separate from the house. The pool was observed to be about four-feet tall with no cover. There was an “unsecured ladder granting access to the pool.” There was no deck around the pool. And there were leaves and algae in the pool water, which filled the pool to about half or one-third full.

In the driveway there was a small inflatable pool, also filled with water and algae, the report states.

The narrative states that when officers arrived at the home, the child was unresponsive in the front yard and they performed CPR.

Hudson’s involuntary manslaughter charge alleges that Hudson caused the death of Londyn, “the proximate result of Hudson committing or attempting to commit” felony child endangering.

The felony child endangering charge alleges Hudson “did create a substantial risk to the health or safety” of Londyn by violating “a duty of care, protection, or support” in violation of Ohio law.

Hudson was watching Londyn when she realized the child was gone, according to a Youngstown police report. Hudson said Londyn and another child were playing in the front yard as she was talking to another relative.

“She stated that after talking for a few minutes, they noticed that (Londyn) was missing. They went around the back of the house and found her floating in the pool,” the report states.

“She advised that about five minutes elapsed between when she saw (Londyn) playing and when they found her floating in the pool.” An ambulance took the child to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital.

A juvenile advised police he had driven up to the home on Ridgelawn Avenue and saw the two toddlers playing in the front yard. He said he was talking to Hudson for about five minutes when he realized one of the two children was missing.

He went around the house and saw what he thought was a baby doll in the pool. When he looked closer, he saw that it was a child and pulled her out of the water.

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