A 15-year-old boy died Thursday night after being found inside a plastic pool at a home in the Jardines del Caribe neighborhood in Ponce, according to Puerto Rico Police. The incident was reported at 8:58 p.m. through the 9-1-1 Emergency System after a call alerted authorities to a possible medical emergency on Calle 48 in that development.
When officers arrived, paramedics were already assisting the teenager, identified as Hermes Julián Bracero Martínez, who had been pulled from a plastic pool about three and a half feet deep located behind the house by his parents. The teen was taken to Hospital Damas in Ponce, where the on-duty physician pronounced him dead.
His body was transferred to the Institute of Forensic Sciences, where an autopsy will be performed to determine the official cause of death. Homicide Division agents from the Criminal Investigations Corps (CIC) in Ponce, along with prosecutor Jimmy Santos Martínez, have taken over the investigation.