Twin Boys, 3, Drown In Pool of Melville Home

Police cruisers are pictured Wednesday morning on Holly Court in Melville after twin 3-year-old boys drowned in the backyard pool of a home on the street. Long Islander News photo/Jano Tantongco

By Jano Tantongco
info@longislandergroup.com

Twin 3-year-old boys drowned Wednesday morning in the backyard pool of their Melville home, Suffolk police said.

The boys’ mother found one of the twins, Nicholas Aurilia, in the pool of the 10 Holly Court Home at around 8:40 a.m. and pulled him from it, according to Melville Fire Department Assistant Chief David Kaplan. Nicholas was in cardiac arrest, he said.

Police said the mother called 911, told police her other son, Anthony, was missing, and began CPR on Nicholas.

Kaplan said the mother told fire crews when they arrived two minutes later that she thought Anthony might be in the pool. Emergency personnel searched the pool, Kaplan said.

“It was very murky, they couldn’t see the bottom. They had to do it by feel. After a few minutes, they were able to find the second child,” Kaplan said, adding that Anthony was also in cardiac arrest.

Fire department officials -- with about 15 members and three ambulances onsite -- attempted to perform CPR and Advanced Life Support on both of the boys, but were unsuccessful. They were brought to Plainview Hospital where they were pronounced dead, according to police.

Police said the drownings appeared to be accidental, and that an autopsy will be performed by the Nassau County Medical Examiner.

Huntington town spokesman A.J. Carter said that both a permit and a certificate of occupancy for the pool were issued June 23 after a May inspection found the property up to code standards. Carter added that the gate was working properly, and there was also a pool alarm installed.

Town regulations specify that access gates should be “securely locked with a key, combination or other child proof lock sufficient to prevent access when the swimming pool is not in use or supervised.”

According to Zillow.com records, the home was purchased June 23.

This story was updated when The Long-Islander went to press on Wednesday night.
Additional reporting by Andrew Wroblewski