A toddler who was pronounced dead in an emergency room in Gilbert was later found alive in the hospital’s cold room, touching off a criminal investigation and an internal review by the hospital. The child, identified by family fundraisers as Vincent Lorenzo Fiordilino, was declared dead at about 6:20 p.m. on Super Bowl Sunday after being brought to Mercy Gilbert Medical Center following a near-drowning in a residential pool. He was located breathing in the hospital morgue at 11:52 p.m. and was promptly airlifted to Phoenix Children’s Hospital for additional treatment; the Gilbert Police Department said the child ultimately survived and was released from the hospital.
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The sequence of events began in the early evening when a 911 call was placed at approximately 5:38 p.m. after a relative found the 18-month-old floating face down in the family pool. A relative performed CPR and emergency responders took over before the boy was rushed to the hospital. Emergency room staff, including the physician identified in a police report as A. Toosi, continued resuscitation efforts in the trauma bay. According to the report, as team members worked on the child, Dr. Toosi checked the time on a cellphone and soon afterward informed the family that he intended to call the time of death.
Moments later, the physician is reported to have told officers, “As long as there are no objections, I’d like to call time of death,” and at approximately 18:20 hours he officially called the time of death and requested a moment of silence. Those present in the trauma room — family members and responding officers — later told investigators that the toddler continued to appear to gasp after the pronouncement. A detective on scene reported hearing an audible gasp at roughly 7:18 p.m. while workers were preparing to move the child from the trauma room to the facility’s cold room, a refrigerated area that serves as the hospital morgue and is typically maintained at temperatures in the mid-30s Fahrenheit.
Highlighted excerpt from a report shown by police noting staff described blood gas 'incompatible with life' and that a time of death was called — a passage central to the investigation.
Investigators recorded additional observations that raised questions about the medical handling of the case. A detective who returned later to photograph the body reported what appeared to be another gasp or an air release. Nurses told investigators they believed some movements were agonal — brief, reflexive breaths that can follow intense resuscitation efforts — and attributed them in part to chest compressions, supplemental oxygen, or physical pressure applied by relatives saying goodbye. At about 7:23 p.m., the cold room door was closed and staff prepared for what they believed to be the reception of a deceased patient.
More than four hours after the child was placed in the cold room, a medical examiner team arrived just before midnight. At approximately 11:52 p.m., the examiner found the toddler breathing in the cold room. The family was notified immediately and the child was airlifted to a pediatric specialty hospital. Family members have since established a crowdfunding page that describes the boy as being on a ventilator, avoiding serious brain damage but continuing to require close medical monitoring and extensive therapy to recover. A person who answered the phone at the home where the child lives declined to comment and hung up when asked about the case.
A family photo of the toddler at the center of the Arizona case who was initially declared dead at a hospital and was later found alive in the hospital morgue.
Law enforcement actions have followed the extraordinary discovery. The Gilbert Police Department said it has recommended that the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office consider child abuse charges against the child’s parents. A police report reviewed by investigators notes that the parents both admitted to smoking marijuana the morning of the drowning and that their state of mind may have been impaired by marijuana or other mind-altering substances. The report also states investigators believe the parents may not have realized the child had wandered to the pool while the Super Bowl game was on; the department declined to provide additional comment beyond the recommendation to pursue charges.
Mercy Gilbert Medical Center has confirmed it conducted an internal review into what the hospital described in a statement as a “heartbreaking situation,” but the facility has not released findings from that review. Hospital representatives also declined to answer questions about whether the physician who pronounced the child dead remains on staff. The doctor identified in the police report as A. Toosi later referred reporters to attorney Scott Holden. In a statement, the lawyer said patient confidentiality and the pending potential case against the parents limited what could be disclosed and added that “there is much more to this case, both factually and medically, than has been reported thus far.” When questioned by police about declaring the child dead while the child was still making respiratory movements, the physician is quoted in the report as saying, “Please do your thing and let me do my thing. I went to medical school for a reason.”
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has taken over the criminal inquiry and is reviewing the Gilbert Police Department’s recommendation along with the details in the investigative file. A county attorney spokesperson declined to comment on the pending investigation. Authorities have emphasized they are examining both the circumstances that led to the near-drowning and the medical actions taken after the child arrived at the hospital. The child’s legal and medical outcomes, any decisions on criminal charges, and the results of the hospital’s internal review remain pending as investigators assemble the full record of what occurred that evening.
Newly released 911 audio published by the New York Post captures the family's desperate CPR attempts after finding the toddler face-down in the pool. As of July 2026, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office continues reviewing the felony child abuse charges recommended against both parents on June 3, with no decision yet on filing. The family’s GoFundMe updates describe Vincent as their "miracle baby" making gradual progress on ventilator support.
Police records released in July show the near‑drowning and initial hospital pronouncement occurred on February 8, 2026 (Super Bowl Sunday).
The doctor listed as "A. Toosi" in the police report has been publicly identified as Aryan Toosi, DO; state records indicate he is licensed through the Arizona Board of Osteopathic Examiners with no disciplinary actions listed and a work address tied to Chandler Regional Medical Center, which is in the same Dignity Health hospital network as Mercy Gilbert.
Gilbert police recommended that the Maricopa County Attorney pursue one felony charge under Arizona law—A.R.S. 13‑3623(A)(3) (child or vulnerable adult abuse)—against both parents, and the county attorney's office said it received that recommendation on June 3 and is reviewing it.