In a tragic accident, an 8-year-old girl was killed died after drinking boiling water from a straw, according to Florida Department of Children and Family records.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">8-year-old S. Fla. girl dies months after drinking boiling water on a dare <a href="https://t.co/orJaarBQgn">https://t.co/orJaarBQgn</a> <a href="https://t.co/dKxUKHjtfS">pic.twitter.com/dKxUKHjtfS</a></p>— WPLG Local 10 News (@WPLGLocal10) <a href="https://twitter.com/WPLGLocal10/status/893193651622490112">August 3, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Investigators say she drank the boiling water after a dare from her cousin to do so, something the family acknowledged.
The investigation from Florida DCF say that the 8-year-old, Kiari Pope, complained she was having chest pains and trouble breathing late one night, and minutes later, her mother's boyfriend says that she was found unconscious and unresponsive.
Doctors say that the 8-year-old child was pronounced dead at Jackson Memorial Hospital Monday morning upon arrival.
The child's mother has set up a GoFundMe page in order to raise funds for the girl's funeral. Kiari's mother said her daughter was dared to drink the boiling water by her cousin after they watched a video from YouTube, that gave them interest.
In March, DCF received reports the girl had sustained burns to her mouth and throat after drinking the boiling water which is when she actually drank the hot water. The family is claiming that several months later the girl died due to complications from the incident.
Records show that Florida DCF investigated the incident as well as nine other allegations of abuse or neglect involving the girl over the last eight years of her life.
Four of the most recent prior reports were received in 2017, two of which occurred when the child was under the supervision of a family relative outside the home.
During the last investigation before her death, which came in late June after DCF received a report from an anonymous source.
At the time of the last DCF investigation, the girl was in the care of another relative. Specific information about that particular incident was not currently available under a public record law.
Dating back to May, Florida DCF received two reports on the girl. One was to report the boiling water incident, and the other was over concerns the girl was not properly supervised by her caretakers.
DCF shows five other investigations were launched between 2009 and 2016, involving allegations of domestic violence between the mother and her "respective paramour" according to the documents, which suggest that the mother had a violent physical history with her lover at the time although it doesn't identify the individual.
The Department's Critical Incident Rapid Response Team will be looking into the death of Kiari because one of the reports in 2017 showed proof of either abuse or neglect, and it remains shocking that if such proof was found that the girl wasn't taken from the home.
Records do not show which investigation found such proof, only that investigators came to that conclusion.
DCF Secretary Mike Carroll released a statement on the death saying, “The loss of this child is truly devastating and our condolences go out to all those who loved her. We have opened a child death investigation to examine the circumstances surrounding her death and will deploy a Critical Incident Rapid Response Team to review all interactions this family has had with Florida’s child welfare system. We will also continue to work closely with law enforcement to support their continued efforts.”
DCF records also show there were three other children in the home at the time of the death.
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