An 8-year-old drowned in Boynton Beach on June 22, according to the city Police Department.
Officers responded to a report of a missing child in the Boynton Bay Circle area at about 5 p.m. on June 22. Family members told police that Javonte Rahming had left the residence a short time earlier, and they were unable to locate him.
During a search of the area, officers used a drone, which spotted the motionless child in a swimming pool on the 1900 block of Northeast Second Lane. The property is adjacent to the Boynton Bay neighborhood, but police said there is no connection between the two households.
Officers immediately pulled the boy from the water and drove him to a hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead.
Detectives reviewing surveillance footage from the home with the pool found that Javonte had entered the fenced backyard alone at about 4 p.m. without the residents’ knowledge and jumped into the water.
Police said they do not suspect foul play, although the investigation remains active.
2025 was Florida’s worst year for child drownings, DCF reports
In 2025, Florida recorded 112 child deaths from drowning, the highest total listed in state records. Nearly 80% of the children are under the age of 3, according to the Florida Department of Children and Families.
Drowning is the leading cause of unintentional death for Florida children ages 1 to 4. Florida also leads the nation in drownings involving children with autism. In 2025, 34 children with autism drowned in Florida, and in 58% of all drownings in the state since 2021 involving a child age 5 or older, the child was autistic, according to the Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County.
New legislation goes into effect July 1 that will require new parents to receive explicit drowning-prevention materials as part of their postpartum education, the same packet that already instructs parents on safe sleeping practices and childhood eye disorders.
The bipartisan package also expanded the state’s Swimming Lesson Voucher Program, which reimburses income-eligible families for the cost of enrolling children in swim lessons with a certified instructor. The program previously covered children ages 4 and under; it now extends to children ages 1 through 7.
Democratic Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith of Orlando joined Republican Sen. Clay Yarborough to ask the Senate president to increase swim lesson funding to $1.7 million from $1 million.
Additional proposed bills in Smith’s package would require older homes with pools built before Florida’s Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act of 2000 to come up to the current safety code when the home is sold or transferred.
What parents should know about preventing child drownings
According to drowning prevention experts, 88% of children drown with at least one adult present, underscoring the danger of distractions near water. Families are urged to designate a “Water Watcher,” an adult who stays focused and free from phones, conversations or alcohol, to maintain constant visual contact with children in or near water.
The Florida Department of Children and Families recommends designating a Water Watcher, installing barriers like pool fences with self-latching and self-closing gates and making sure children cannot enter a pool area unaccompanied by an adult. They recommend that children ages 4 and older learn to swim, and encourage caregivers of children ages 1 to 3 to consider swim lessons, as studies show they reduce drowning incidents.
The CDC recommends a four-sided pool fence at least four feet high that fully encloses the pool and separates it from the house, with a self-closing and self-latching gate. Pool toys should be removed after each swim to avoid attracting children to the water unsupervised. Inflatable arm bands and “floaties” are not safety devices and should not be used in place of a Coast Guard-approved life jacket.
Emmy Bailey is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: 8-year-old drowns in Boynton. How parents can boost pool safety
Reporting by Emmy Bailey, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
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By Emmy Bailey, Palm Beach Post | USA TODAY Network
