Toddler drowns at babysitter's house; twin brother on life support

A tragic accident at a babysitter's house resulted in the drowning of a 1-year-old, while her twin brother clings to life support.

The Knox County Sheriff's Office said the two toddlers were pulled from a pool at a home in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Friday morning and rushed to the hospital.

The toddlers, almost 2 years old, were twins, authorities said.

The girl was pronounced dead at East Tennessee Children's Hospital, while her twin brother is in critical condition and on life support, the sheriff's office said.

Knox County sheriffs said the babysitter had gone to the door to greet another child arriving at about 10 a.m. She then began looking for the twins, and found them unconscious in the deep end of the house's swimming pool.

Knoxville ABC affiliate WATE reported the house had been registered as an in-home day care in 2015. The owner was an unlicensed child care provider, according to the Tennessee Department of Human Services, meaning no more than four unrelated children could be cared for in the home at the same time.

"At this point, it is our understanding that she was not in violation of that when the incident at the pool occurred," Tennessee DHS spokesperson Sky Arnold told WATE.

The incident is still under investigation, with the Major Crimes Unit and the Department of Children's Services both looking into the death.

The death was the second toddler to drown in a pool in Knox County in a little over a week. A 2-year-old boy drowned in Corryton, Tennessee, a Knoxville suburb, when he accidentally fell into a pool on July 10, according to the sheriff's office. The Major Crimes Unit investigated and no charges were pressed.