Police said the 1-year-old girl was found unresponsive Thursday evening on East Somerset Street.
PHILADELPHIA — A 1-year-old girl died Thursday night after she was found unresponsive inside a Kensington home, where police said early evidence pointed to a possible drowning.
The child was taken to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children and pronounced dead at 7:49 p.m. Police said the case remains under investigation by the Philadelphia Police Department’s Special Victims Unit.
Medics were called around 7 p.m. to the 1800 block of East Somerset Street after a report of a child in distress. Officers later entered the home and found a basin filled with water in a second-floor bathroom. Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said investigators also saw water covering much of the dining room floor on the first level.
Small said detectives were still trying to determine how the girl became unresponsive. “We’re not really certain what happened at this time,” Small said. Police have not released the child’s name, and officials have not said how long she may have been in the water before help was called.
The home was treated as part of the investigation Thursday night. Police said investigators were seeking a search warrant so they could fully process the property, collect evidence and document the conditions inside. Special Victims detectives were also expected to interview people connected to the home.
No charges had been announced Friday. Police said the death was being handled as a possible drowning, but the final cause and manner of death had not been publicly released. Investigators were still reviewing the timeline of the emergency call and the events that came before it.
The investigation remained active Friday as detectives worked to determine what happened inside the East Somerset Street home and whether any criminal conduct was involved.
Author note: Last updated June 12, 2026.