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Ongoing story / Arizona

The Arizona toddler found alive in a hospital morgue

Overview · reviewed October 28, 2026

In February 2026 a toddler in Gilbert, Arizona, who was found in a backyard pool was pronounced dead at a hospital at 6:20 p.m. on Super Bowl Sunday, then was found breathing in the hospital's morgue at 11:52 p.m.[1][2] No charges were filed against his parents, although police had recommended negligence charges,[3] and in October the parents blamed his doctor for leaving him with lifelong, severe brain damage.[4]

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No charges were filed against his parents, although police had recommended negligence charges,[3] and in October the parents blamed his doctor for leaving him with lifelong, severe brain damage.[4]

Coverage over time

Share of tracked outlets · weekly (UTC)

Week of 2026-06-29 (UTC): 2%, 9 of 569 tracked outlets (0 left, 9 center, 0 right)Week of 2026-07-06 (UTC): 4%, 23 of 560 tracked outlets (5 left, 11 center, 7 right)Week of 2026-07-13 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-07-20 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-07-27 (UTC): 4%, 22 of 561 tracked outlets (5 left, 12 center, 5 right)Week of 2026-08-03 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-08-10 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-08-17 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-08-24 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-08-31 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-09-07 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-09-14 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-09-21 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-09-28 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-10-05 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-10-12 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-10-19 (UTC): 3%, 13 of 479 tracked outlets (1 left, 10 center, 2 right)Week of 2026-10-26 (UTC): 1%, 6 of 473 tracked outlets (2 left, 2 center, 2 right)Week of 2026-11-02 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-11-09 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outlets, so far

LeftCenterRightLighter bar: this week so far

Each bar is the share of the outlets on our Left / Center / Right rating scale that we tracked publishing that week which carried reporting on this story, split by the outlets' ratings. We track more outlets now than in the archive, so a share keeps earlier and later weeks comparable. An outlet counts once a week however much it published, and outlets in one ownership or syndication group count as one on each side they appear on. A rating describes the outlet, not the report. A gap means no such reports were collected that week, not that nothing was reported anywhere. Weeks run Monday to Sunday in UTC, so a report published on a Sunday evening in US Eastern time counts in the next week. 2 more outlets off the scale (not rated, or outside the left-right graphs) also reported; they are not in this chart. See them.

Weekly counts, outlets and reports (5 weeks with coverage)
Outlets on the rating scale that carried this story each week, of the outlets tracked that week, newest first
Week of (UTC)LeftCenterRightOf trackedShareReceipts
Oct 26, 20262226 of 4731%
Oct 19, 2026110213 of 4793%
Jul 27, 2026512522 of 5614%
Jul 6, 2026511723 of 5604%
Jun 29, 20260909 of 5692%

Latest coverage

The newest reporting in this story's record.

  1. Oct 27, 2026 · first reported · Headline from MLive

    Child found alive in morgue after being pronounced dead: ‘He’s not the same’

Background

Officers said they had seen signs of life multiple times before the boy was taken to the morgue.[2] The boy, Vincent Lorenzo Fiordilino, had been found floating face down in the pool,[4] and his family has questioned his medical treatment.[5]

Supporting stories (5)
  1. An Arizona toddler was declared dead and later found alive in the morgue. New video gives insight into what happened.
  2. Toddler declared dead was found breathing in hospital morgue
  3. No charges for parents of Arizona toddler who was found alive after being declared dead
  4. Family of toddler found alive in hospital morgue to file lawsuit: 'I just want justice for my son'
  5. Arizona family questions their child’s medical treatment after he was pronounced dead, but later found alive in hospital morgue

The full record

Each date is when an update was first reported.

All 6 recorded updates

October 2026

  1. Child found alive in morgue after being pronounced dead: ‘He’s not the same’Headline from MLive · 6 outlets
  2. Arizona family questions their child’s medical treatment after he was pronounced dead, but later found alive in hospital morgueHeadline from KYMA Yuma · 1 outlet
  3. Family of toddler found alive in hospital morgue to file lawsuit: 'I just want justice for my son'Headline from Phl17 · 12 outlets

July 2026

  1. No charges for parents of Arizona toddler who was found alive after being declared deadHeadline from KSN Wichita · 22 outlets
  2. Toddler declared dead was found breathing in hospital morgueHeadline from WMUR · 23 outlets
  3. An Arizona toddler was declared dead and later found alive in the morgue. New video gives insight into what happened.Headline from 12News Phoenix · 9 outlets

Coverage & sources

Read the reports, see how much was collected over time, or compare outlets by political leaning.

Coverage & sources →