Family identifies 5-year-old boy who drowned in Las Vegas
The family of 5-year-old Jaxenn Garcia who drowned in a pool Saturday remembered him as a playful boy.
“Jaxenn was joy in motion — dancing, cracking jokes, cuddling his plushies, and lighting up every room he entered,” his mother, Jaslynn Higgenbotham, wrote in a message Monday. “At just 5 years old, he was the perfect middle child: a proud big brother and a sweet little brother, with a laugh that made you forget the world.”
She said that the family welcomed a newborn girl this month, who Higgenbotham said will never get to know her brother’s sparkle.
“She’ll never get to know the sparkle he brought, only the space he left behind. All our babies will carry that emptiness — a bond broken too soon,” Higgenbotham wrote.
The Metropolitan Police Department said it received a call about a child drowning in the pool at an apartment community at 3800 S. Nellis Blvd., near East Flamingo Road, just after 4 p.m. Saturday.
Arriving officers performed CPR on the child, and medical personnel transported the child to a local hospital where the child was pronounced dead, Metro Lt. Aaron Lee said in a text message that day.
Higgenbotham urged other families to be extra vigilant with their children around water.
“Please, don’t take your eyes off the water — not even for a second,” she wrote. “This pain is too real, too close, and it can happen to any of us. Look out for your babies. Watch each other’s kids. That kind of love can save a life.”
In a GoFundMe for the child, Garcia’s aunt, Kim Washington, described her nephew as a “laid-back little prankster with the best side-eye in the game.”
“He’d scope you out quietly at first, then light up the whole room once he was comfortable. He loved anime, music and making people laugh. His laugh was contagious, his spirit unforgettable,” she wrote in the campaign.
The family had raised $1,720 as of Monday night and is aiming for $4,000 to help pay for a July 12 service for the child.
“We’re heartbroken, and doing our best to hold it together. We’re asking for help to lay our boy to rest with love, color and celebration — just like how he lived,” Higgenbotham wrote.
Contact Katie Futterman at kfutterman@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ktfutts on X.
