HOWELL — A 3-year-old boy drowned in his family's swimming pool on Sunday afternoon in what police call a "tragic accident."

Lucas Hynes was in the backyard and in the pool on Fort Plains Road with several other young children under adult supervision, according to Howell police, when his mother noticed he was not among the group when they came inside.

His mother went outside and found him floating in the pool. She performed CPR until EMS and first responders arrived several minutes later. Rescuers said the boy had a pulse.

"Despite Lucas’s strong will to live, he succumbed to his injuries" the next day at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Howell police said in a statement.

According to his obituary in the Asbury Park Press, he would have turned 4 on September 11. Surviving are two brothers and two sisters.

"Lucas was a tremendous spirit and a blessing to this world," his paternal grandfather Thomas Viera wrote on a GoFundMe account created to help the family with funeral expenses.

A viewing is scheduled at the Riggs Funeral Home on North Main Street in Forked River Friday from 4 to 6:30 p.m. followed by a funeral.

An investigation by Howell police and the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office concluded the incident was not criminal.

East Brunswick police on Wednesday said a 7-year-old boy remained in critical condition after he stopped breathing at the Crystal Springs Family Waterpark on Monday. Police would not disclose any details about the incident.

A witness told MyCentralJersey.com  that emergency crews were tending to a child at the Sapphire Bay pool.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ

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