Laguna Hills Toddler Drowns in Spa Pool

A 2-year-old Laguna Hills girl drowned in a community spa Monday while the 16-year-old stepsister who was supposed to be watching her chatted with a security guard nearby, authorities said.

Madeline Morden, who would have turned 3 on April 26, was declared dead at Saddleback Memorial Medical Center after the 2:50 p.m. accident at Laguna Village, in the 23000 block of Santa Vittoria Drive.

The stepsister, according to Jim Amormino, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, was “apparently talking to a security guard at the pool when another young child informed them that the girl was at the bottom of the spa.” He said Madeline had been wearing flotation devices on her arms, but “had removed them, or they fell off.” There was no lifeguard.

“A passer-by attempted CPR; she was rushed to Saddleback Hospital,” Amormino said.

“You can’t turn your back [on a child in a pool] even for a few moments,” he said. “That’s the message that both [the] Orange County sheriff and the Fire Department want to get out.”

Times wire services contributed to this report.