A family in Decatur, Georgia, is desperately searching for answers after the death of their toddler. Poppy Pepper was at the local pool with her mother and siblings when she fell into the water. Despite the best efforts of doctors, nothing could be done to save her. As the family comes to terms with the loss, they find themselves with questions. How could their daughter have ended up in the pool in the first place? Especially if there were lifeguards at the facililty.
Two-year-old Poppy Pepper was at a kick-off event for her 8-year-old brother’s swim team on September 19, 2025, the family’s lawyer, Natanya Brooks, told Atlanta News First. The children were with their mother and infant sister, but the pool was closed to the public ahead of the event.
“At this time, there was no one else there besides the one family and the three lifeguards,” Brooks explained.
It was the girl’s older brother who noticed she was in the pool and alerted a lifeguard, Decaturish reported. Her mother began performing CPR. At 3:55 p.m., DeKalb County Fire and Rescue personnel reported to the pool before taking Poppy to the local hospital.
“There should always be eyes on a pool if there are people at the pool. If there are kids on the deck, there have to be eyes on the pool, because this drowning happens so fast,” Brooks told Decaturish. “This happens in a matter of minutes.”
Currently, it’s unclear where the lifeguards were when the toddler ended up in the pool. An investigation into what happened has begun.
According to the DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office, the cause of death for Poppy Pepper was drowning, People reported. It has ruled the matter an accident.
Brooks told Atlanta News First that the little girl was a happy, well-loved toddler. “She loved her brother and sister and grandparents fiercely, and they called her ‘Poppy Girl,’ and she represented just unconditional love,” she said.
The family is using Brooks as a representative while they grieve the loss of Poppy. “They want to tell everybody how meaningful the community support has been and they’re very thankful for the thoughts and prayers. But this is one of the worst things a parent can ever go through and their entire family is involved so it’s extremely hard,” she told Atlanta News First.
As of right now, the lawyer said it’s too early to know if the family will file a lawsuit. “In addition to families always wanting answers as to what happened to their loved one, families never want other people to go through the same thing. If this was something that was preventable, then the family doesn’t want anybody else to have to suffer and go through this,” she told Decaturish.
The family has created a GoFundMe account to raise money for Poppy’s funeral, and it’s raised about $40,000 thus far. “Our family has experienced an incredible loss of our beautiful daughter Poppy,” the fundraiser reads.
