4-Year-Old Rockford Girl Drowns In Hotel Pool

There's terrible news out of Lake County, where authorities say a 4-year-old girl from Rockford drowned in a swimming pool.

The Lake County coroner's office says Rihanna Alegria was pronounced dead Friday night at a hospital after being transported from a hotel in Gurnee .

The girl's mother, 26-year-old Alejandra DeLuna, tells The Waukegan News-Sun her daughter was staying with relatives at the hotel and apparently jumped into the pool to join other children:

DeLuna, who was not at the hotel, says it appears no one noticed her daughter had gone under the water until it was too late.

DeLuna says her daughter was playful and was looking forward to her second year of preschool. She says the girl also overcame a heart condition and surgery as a baby, calling her a "fighter."

But even before crews arrived, the two off-duty paramedics worked to save Rihanna.

"There were some off-duty firemen or paramedics that happened to be there and pulled her out of the pool," Gurnee Deputy Police Chief Willie Meyer said.

One of the rescuers was hotel guest Leah Sevey of Green Bay, Wisconsin -- an emergency medical technician licensed in Wisconsin but not currently working in the field, Meyer added.

The Red Cross offers the following

Water safety tips from the Red Cross include the following swimming tips for children:

• Never leave a young child unattended near water.
• Teach children to always ask permission to go near water.
• Do not trust a child's life to another youngster.
• Have young children or inexperienced swimmers wear U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jackets around water, but don't rely on them exclusively.