Five-year-old boy dies after falling into river

TAMPA -- A five-year-old boy died after falling into a Hillsborough River drainage culvert this evening, police said.

Jamel Jeffery Johnson accidentally fell from a sea wall while playing at the Columbus Court Apartments, 2813 Valentine Court, police said.

Johnson was playing with another child when he fell into the water, Tampa Police Lt. Donny Peters said. The other child, who was about the same age, went and got an adult.

"We don't know exactly what happened," Peters said. "We don't know how long he was in the water for."

Johnson was unresponsive when witnesses pulled him from the water. Police were called to the scene around 7 p.m. and tried to administer CPR. He was transported to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The Hillsborough County Medical Examiner's Office has not yet determined the cause of death, Peters said.

“It’s just a tragic accident. The families are devastated,” he said.

Times staff writer