Inset: Sharef Omar Smith (Brevard County Sheriff’s Office). Background: Quality Inn Hotel in Palm Bay, Florida, where a child under Smith’s supervision tragically drowned (Google Maps).
A man fell asleep in a Florida hotel pool as the 3-year-old boy he was caring for struggled to stay afloat and eventually drowned, according to cops.
Upon noticing the child in the pool, a hotel housekeeper hurried over to save him and managed to pull him from the water. Authorities reported that 40-year-old Sharef Omar Smith allegedly declined to assist the staff member and eventually responded with expletives.
The event occurred at approximately 11 a.m. on a Saturday at the Quality Inn located in Palm Bay. According to the affidavit for probable cause, the housekeeper was working on the third floor when she glanced at the pool and saw the child floating. She rushed downstairs, imploring Smith to “Grab the child!” However, Smith, who was resting on the pool steps, remained unmoved. The staff member retrieved the child, referred to in the report as KS, from the deep section of the pool.
The boy was “lifeless,” per the complaint.
The housekeeper, unfamiliar with CPR, attempted to resuscitate the child while desperately asking Smith for help, police noted. Smith eventually awoke but merely stood by without intervening, officers stated.
“She mentioned she continuously yelled at him to take action, but he refused to assist. She recounted that he finally responded with, ‘F— you, b—’ and continued cursing as she cradled KS,” the complaint indicated.
During the incident, Smith allegedly continued to verbally confront other staff members who came to provide aid and contacted 911. Officers observed a wine bottle among his belongings, and noted the smell of alcohol on his breath. Smith was reportedly uncooperative with law enforcement, according to the affidavit.
The boy was rushed to one hospital and airlifted to another but later died.
Cops got a hold of the child’s mother, who said Smith was not intoxicated when she left the room about 10 a.m. but she “knows him to be a heavy drinker and has had many DUIs,” cops wrote. After she left the hotel, Smith called her looking for the boy’s swimming suit. But she did not want Smith to take him to the pool because he is “irresponsible,” the affidavit stated.
While he was at the hospital an officer overheard the mother yelling at Smith on the phone for being “drunk again,” cops wrote.
Detectives reviewed surveillance video from the motel that showed the boy was “drowning for approximately 20 to 23 minutes in front of the defendant who was asleep in the pool,” the complaint said.
Smith is facing charges of child neglect and aggravated manslaughter. He’s being held at the Brevard County Jail without bond.
