The tragedy occurred on June 14 in Burke County, just south of Augusta, Georgia.

According to WFXG, Israel was found unresponsive in the pool during the swim lesson. An ambulance later transported him to Burke County Hospital, though the 4-year-old was pronounced dead.

“It’s rough because we do everything together,” Scott told Atlanta Black Star. “Mostly everything we do, we do it as a family, so anywhere we go, it’s like a part of us is missing. We put on faces, but we’re shattered and it just feels like something’s missing.”

At four years old, Israel Scott was known as a friendly, sweet child who was very protective of his family.https://t.co/lHenDvhvHz

— WJBF (@WJBF) July 7, 2022

During a sit-down with The Shade Room, Israel’s mother, Dori Scott, provided further details about the situation with the swim instructor, identified as Lexie Currington-Tenhusen.

“I went there, and I got ready to sit down, and she was like, ‘Parents aren’t allowed. This is the 4 and up class,'” Dori recalled, saying that she ultimately abided by Currington-Tenhusen’s rule and waited in her car during the lesson.

However, on Israel’s second day of swim classes, things went horribly wrong.

“A lady comes, and she knocks on my window. I’m sitting in the car, and she’s like, ‘Come get your baby.’ And, when she said that, she said it kind of rude-like,” Dori said.

“Then I looked at her face, and I just saw tears in her eyes, so initially I knew something was wrong,” she continued. “I just started screaming.”

Dori recalled the harrowing moment she laid eyes on her unresponsive son.

“I walked in that fence and saw my baby laying on the side of the pool, and I saw some lady doing CPR on him,” she said. “I lost it.”

“I heard someone say, ‘He got to the deep end,'” Dori added.

Dori, alongside Israel’s father, Walt Scott, also noted that the only contact they’ve had with Currington-Tenhusen since the incident came nearly two weeks later when she sent the family a card in the mail and a Venmo refund for the swim lessons.

“They receive a refund via Venmo for the cost of the courses — it’s really, really atrocious behavior,” Lee Merritt, the family’s attorney, said of Currington-Tenhusen’s gesture, per The Shade Room.

 

“She has a list of complaints from the region about her often being distracted, using her son as an employee who’s not consistently on the premises, and not following the policy guidelines for supervising children,” Merritt added. “So, there is a reputation in the community.”

Further investigation into the tragedy is currently underway, and there’s a change.org petition going around to raise awareness.

“Our hearts and prayers go out to his family,” the Burke County Sheriff’s Office said in response to the tragedy.

In the meantime, Israel’s family continues to grieve and seek closure.