UPDATED 7:00PM Monday, September 28

NOTE: As previously stated, Meow Meow Foundation presents information, such as the following, to help parents and caregivers navigate situations or services that afford potential risk.

A Los Angeles County first responder, whose name is withheld at this time, has cast doubt upon claims regarding who was in charge of the pool when Roxie Forbes drowned in June of 2019.

Roxie drowned at Summerkids, a recreational child care facility in Altadena.

In sworn testimony, the first responder said “two lifeguards were assigned to the pool area” while two others who were “assigned to the day camp” went to the pool to assist with a bee sting. However, Summerkids employees and owner Cara DiMassa said in multiple communications that four, not two, Red Cross lifeguards were already at the pool before the purported bee sting.

The first responder also disputed the claim by the employees and DiMassa who said it was only a 10-15 second gap between the time employees acknowledged Roxie alive and when they spotted Roxie floating on the surface effectively dead. He said he had never seen a drowning victim expel such a voluminous amount of vomit, which indicated that she was submerged for a far greater period of time.

Roxie was in full cardiac arrest at the pool, never again breathed on her own and was removed from a ventilator the following day.

DiMassa’s attorney Steve Madison said, “There were four certified lifeguards on duty that day. The sheriff ruled this was accidental.” Madison chose to represent DiMassa despite being the Pasadena councilman for the district in which Doug Forbes and Elena Matyas reside. Forbes and Matyas are Roxie’s parents and Meow Meow Foundation principals.

Madison was wrong, however. None of the Summerkids employees at the pool when Roxie drowned were legitimate Red Cross certified lifeguards. Cara DiMassa and her father Joe were directly involved in the scheme. Former Assistant Camp Director Jaimi Harrison has yet to comment on what if anything she knew. Madison has yet to comment on these developments.

Forbes and Matyas said they implore parents and guardians to demand access to facilities where their children are involved in aquatics or other recreational activities which pose some level of risk. For yet undisclosed reasons, Summerkids disallowed parents on their grounds other than to drop off or pick up children.

The couple also said that such facilities must provide parents with copies of lifeguard certifications and aquatics procedures for review, including proper pool occupancy, emergency action plans, background checks and collaboration with the nearest first responders.

Meow Meow Foundation has been in communication with American Red Cross General Counsel about its demands for considerable changes in certain standards and practices which it claims are severely deficient if not outright negligent. Counsel has already agreed to revoke all certifications associated with Summerkids.