PORT ALLEN — She was tiny, with the biggest, brightest eyes and a smile that could light up a room. Three-year-old Jacie Lee, a non-verbal autistic child, died tragically on July 2 after drowning in a neighbor’s pool. The death has left her family shattered and a community grieving the heartbreaking loss of a child whose life had only just begun.
It happened in the Willow Glen area of Port Allen, Louisiana. Deputies with the West Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office responded to a missing child report around 4 p.m.
Jacie had somehow slipped out of the home and into the garage while her family was inside. Despite frantic searching, the worst was confirmed when she was found unresponsive in a neighbor’s backyard pool. Officials say it was an “extended period of time” before she was discovered. She was rushed to the hospital, but it was too late. Jacie could not be revived…