North Carolina deputy saves 2 girls from drowning; dad charged with attempted murder
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The North Carolina man accused of trying to drown his two young daughters initially told residents of an apartment complex he believed his 7-year-old son had been kidnapped and needed help finding him.
Alan Tysheen Eugene Lassiter flagged down passers-by at the Audubon Lake apartments Sunday night saying he was searching for his son, apartment complex manager Sylvia Scott said Tuesday.
It wasn't until later that Lassiter told Scott and a 911 operator that he'd drowned his 3- and 5-year-old daughters, Scott said. Lassiter was mistaken: The girls survived after being pulled from the water by Durham County Sheriff's Deputy David Earp, who lives nearby.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The boy had escaped and run for help, police said.
Scott said she was the one who called Earp. As the deputy retrieved the girls, Lassiter was standing nearby smoking a cigarette. He became distraught, wailed "What have I done?" and started to cry, Scott said.
Lassiter, 29, of Raleigh, did not live at the apartment complex, according to Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Earp said the girls were about 10 feet from a bank that slopes sharply down to the pond, which is about as long as a football field. The 5-year-old was floating and crying, Earp said. Her 3-year-old sister was fully submerged. Earp said he walked into water about 5 feet deep and snatched each one of the girls under an arm.
After getting them safely to land, Earp said he took the 5-year-old to a nearby gazebo and asked Scott and her son to watch over her.
"I knew she was terrified and I just took her off and didn't want her to be around her sister," Earp said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The five-year veteran of the sheriff's department said he and the arriving officers from the Durham police department performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the 3-year-old for about 15 minutes until medical help arrived.
According to authorities, Lassiter threw the girls into the pond surrounded by apartment buildings.
Lassiter said so himself, during a 911 call Sunday night. Between expletive-laden rage and distraught sobs, he told a dispatcher officials had tried to take away his children as he dealt with a personal problem.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Lassiter was charged with three counts of attempted murder: one count for each of the girls and a third for their 7-year-old brother. Lassiter was jailed, with bond set at $2 million, pending a hearing next month. Earp, 26, who has no children of his own, says the life-or-death episode continues to reverberate for him.
"It plays over in my mind a lot, as I'm sure with any person," Earp said. "Hopefully these kids will push through."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Emery Dalesio can be reached at http://twitter.com/emerydalesio .