Three years after their children drowned: Parents arrested and charged in Ohio

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Three years after two children died by drowning in a pool, their parents have been arrested.

According to the U.S. Marshals Service, Kenneth Deer and Patricia Davis were arrested more than 800 miles west of Columbus and in Canton, respectively, and charged with manslaughter and child endangerment three years after their children, ages 2 and 4, died in the 1900 block of Walnut Hill Park on the Far East Side.

The drowning accidents occurred on June 4, 2021. Both children, Prince Deer and Victoria Deer, were pronounced dead shortly thereafter at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

The siblings were reportedly playing near a swimming pool while their mother was at home. The pool was reportedly sunken into the ground and covered in grass and algae. Their deaths were ruled a drowning and police did not believe it was a criminal incident.

The Columbus Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team took over the case and determined that Deer no longer lived in the Columbus area.

On April 26, U.S. Marshals charged the parents with the siblings’ deaths. Deer was arrested on June 17 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by the U.S. Marshals North Oklahoma Violent Crimes Task Force. Davis was arrested on June 21 in Canton by the U.S. Marshals Northern District of Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force.

Both were arrested without incident and will be extradited to Columbus.