Mother of two Florida boys who drowned in apartment complex pool, arrested

A 23-year-old mother of two boys who drowned in a community pool together in Florida earlier this year, has been charged with aggravated manslaughter.

Wildline Joseph
Photo: Broward County Sheriff's Office

Wildline Joseph, the 23-year-old mother of two boys who drowned in a community pool together in a North Lauderdale Florida earlier this year, has been charged with aggravated manslaughter, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office.

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Ja’Kye Joseph, 6, and Branario Minto, 5, were the young brothers who together ventured out to the pool area in May in their apartment complex as their mother slept.

On Saturday, around 1a.m., Joseph was arrested and charged because she “failed to provide proper care and supervision for the brothers, which makes her responsible for their death,” Sgt Don Prichard told Fox News

The boys climbed a fence to get to the pool. When neighbors noticed the boys floating face down in the pool around 9:30 p.m, they and rushed to pull them out and give them aid, but it was too late, the Broward Sheriff’s Office reported.

In May, Joseph told  Local 10 News that one of her sons was learning how to swim but still didn’t know how.

“He was getting swimming lessons but he didn’t really make it. He thought he could swim but he cannot swim, and I think the brother tried to help him so he jumped in too,” Joseph said.

“I’m so sorry. If I was there I could have saved them on time,” she said.

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Joseph’s boyfriend, John Lynn Jr., was also arrested on the same charges two days prior.

Back in June, the Department of Children and Families released a report revealing that the mother, grandmother and great-grandmother were all inside the home when the boys left out.

The mother was also reportedly investigated more than a dozen times for various reasons relating to child neglect. Between 2015 and 2018, there were at least six reports of abuse that the Department of Child and Family Services reportedly investigated.

Two days before the boys died there reportedly was a seventh report, according to the outlet.

“The children were assessed to be safe and no additional service needs were indicated,” the sheriff’s office said.

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