Five-year-old boy dies after being pulled out of Lake Kaweah

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The Tulare County Sheriff's Office said the boy had been wearing a life jacket while he was on the houseboat but had taken it off while he watched a movie because he was cold.

Five-year-old Damen Ellis of Visalia died at Valley Children's Hospital on Monday after being pulled from the water on Sunday.

Around 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, the five-year-old had fallen off the back of the houseboat near the shore of Greasy Cove. His eight-year-old brother tried to get him out of the water before others were able to get the boy to shore and start CPR -- including a respiratory nurse who was nearby.

While continuing CPR, the deputies raced the boy to the Marina in their boat, where he was taken in an ambulance to Kaweah Delta Medical Center, then airlifted to Valley Children's Hospital.

The Tulare County Sheriff's Office would like to remind everyone that children under the age of 13 must wear life jackets while on a boat or personal watercraft in motion on the water.