Boy found in washing machine dies

An 8-year-old boy who was hospitalized after being found inside a washing machine has died, and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s homicide detectives are investigating his death, sheriff’s officials said today.

The boy was pronounced dead at 10 a.m. Sunday, said Deputy Mark Pope of the Sheriff’s Headquarters Bureau.

The boy was hospitalized Wednesday at around 7:30 p.m. after his father pulled him from the top-loading washing machine, which was filled with water, said Sgt. Richard Nagler of the Santa Clarita Sheriff’s Station. The boy’s mother had gone to the store, while his father worked in the yard, sheriff’s officials said.

The father called 911 and county firefighters and sheriff’s deputies found the boy lying in front of the washing machine unconscious and not breathing, sheriff’s officials said.

He was resuscitated and transported to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Westwood.

Homicide detectives went to the hospital to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death, Pope said.

The boy’s name was on security hold and could not be released by the coroner’s office, said coroner’s Investigator Kimberly Arnold.

Anyone with information about the boy’s death was urged to contact sheriff’s homicide detectives at (323) 890-5500, or Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS (8477) or at http://lacrimestoppers.org.