Girl, 2, Found Dead Near Water Bucket

Detectives on Tuesday were investigating the death of a 2-year-old girl found unconscious next to a bucket of water at her home in a remote desert area near Lancaster.

The child’s father, Ernest Pina, found her lying on the floor of the family’s trailer Monday afternoon, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Eric Smith said. She was not breathing.

Pina scooped up his daughter Evoone and ran with her in his arms to the nearest pay phone, a mile away. After dialing 911, Pina waited for rescue units, Smith said.

The man and his daughter were airlifted to Antelope Valley Hospital Medical Center in Lancaster, where emergency room doctors were unable to revive the toddler, who was pronounced dead at 3:30 p.m., Smith said.

Detectives were trying to determine if the child drowned in the bucket of water, Smith said.