3 Year Old Girl Found at Bottom of Lufkin Motel Pool

(updated 3/21, 3:30 pm)

Lufkin Police are investigating an incident in which a 3-year-old girl was found at the bottom of the Motel 6 pool Tuesday afternoon on South Timberland Drive.

According to a release from the Lufkin Police Department, At 4:56 p.m. dispatch received a call from a motel employee who was watching on camera from the lobby as a Good Samaritan administered CPR to the child after pulling her from the pool.

The child is identified as Arianna Smith, 3, of Lufkin. She was flown Tuesday night to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. She passed away early Wednesday afternoon.

The family checked into the motel around noon yesterday and she and her father, Rondarius Smith, 26, were watching TV when he fell asleep. She then exited the room and entered the pool area due to a broken gate latch.

Surveillance footage shows that she entered the water at 4:38 p.m. and the Good Samaritan rescued her at 4:48 p.m. She was under water for 10 minutes and 40 seconds. Another bystander began CPR until Lufkin Fire paramedics arrived. Her mother had left the motel to run errands when the incident occurred.

The incident remains under investigation, but based on preliminary information, it is anticipated that charges will not be filed.