Child Dies From Electrocution in Pomona Village
A child is dead following a freak accident inside her home in Pomona Village. Eight-year-old Jacqueline Valdez was electrocuted while connecting a television to an extension cord. She was alone in the house at the time of the incident, as her mother was serving customers inside the family’s store. It is a tragic death and the family is now preparing to bury their beloved daughter and sister. News Five’s Paul Lopez was in Pomona Village. He filed the following report.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
Eight-year-old Jacqueline Valdez was using an extension cord to power up a television inside her living room in Pomona Village when she was electrocuted. Her family’s pastor, Sandra Cruz, was one of the first persons to respond to the scene.
Sandra Cruz
Sandra Cruz, Pomona Village Pastor
“When I came here, the little girl mother was just crying and bawling and trying to help her daughter. Her daughter couldn’t respond. She looked like she was sleeping. We tried to help her, give her some air and try helping her and when we see she can’t respond, so they took her to the hospital. I think she mih, I don’t know if she was already dead, but she didn’t answer or respond at that time. So, they rushed her to hospital. As soon as she reached the hospital, the doctor pronounced her dead.”
Jacqueline was reportedly doing the dishes inside the kitchen, while her mother was tending to customers inside the family store located at the front of the property. Jacqueline was soaked in water when her mother came across her motionless body on the living room floor. The family suspects that Jacqueline was attempting to connect a television to a faulty extension cord after leaving the kitchen.
Sandra Cruz, Pomona Village Pastor
“They were washing dishes and the little girl got wet. The mother told her not to go in and on the TV, but she, once the mother was out there, the little girl went inside and hold an extension. It look like the extension was damaged. And, while she was going to plug in the TV to the extension she got shocked. Her mother gave me a call crying. She tell me pastor please come to my house, something is happening to my daughter. So, I hurry came to her help. We prayed together and try to do something, but I think it was too late.”
Cruz described Jacqueline as an intelligent child who loved singing and praying in church. Jacqueline was also a student at Holy Angel R.C. School who enjoyed helping her mother with household chores. Today, her younger brother was building a tent in preparation for his little sister’s wake. Church members were gathered inside the living room preparing meals for the event.
Sandra Cruz, Pomona Village Pastor
“This is something very hard and unbelievable, because she was just a little girl weh smart, amazing, brave, and willing to do everything we try to tell he to do. It is hard for us church members, family, and we are here to support her. I know it is hard because it is unbelievable.”
Reporting for News Five I am Paul Lopez
