On June 18, 2023, a summer night turned tragic when 20-year-old TayShaun Todd was discovered dead in a swimming pool at a party he attended the previous day.
The Metropolitan Police Department responded to the scene at 12:31 p.m. and initially labeled his death a “possible drowning.” However, troubling details emerged regarding the police’s actions leading up to the discovery of his body.
Before Todd was found, police had already visited the same residence on June 17 in response to a large party complaint.
At 11:31 p.m. that night, Todd’s mother, Christina Todd-Dunn, called the police to report her son missing, stressing that he had last been seen at the party.
According to Todd-Dunn, it took numerous calls, full of “begging” and “pleading,” before officers finally arrived at the home around 2 a.m.
When they did, they did not locate her son—something Todd-Dunn believes occurred because law enforcement did not take her concerns seriously.
By the time officers found Todd, the Clark County coroner stated he had been in the pool for at least 12 hours.
So far, the coroner has withheld the cause and manner of Todd’s death, pending further investigation.
In her own words, Todd-Dunn expressed her despair, saying, “The part that is so upsetting to me is, if the police would have got there and came when I asked them to, they could have gotten him out. He could still be alive right now.”
The tragedy began when Todd’s younger brother woke Todd-Dunn at 11 p.m. on June 17 to inform her that TayShaun was missing.
A friend had reached out to say that the party had been shut down by police, but that he had not seen Todd leave the venue.
Realizing something was wrong, Todd-Dunn hurried to the party location while calling the police, pleading for assistance.
Upon arriving, she was met with resistance from a man at the house who informed her that everyone had left and asked her to leave as well.
Despite her worries, it took hours for the police to arrive back at the scene.
When they finally came, Todd-Dunn described how the officers instead of conducting a thorough search asked her questions about her son’s potential activities, such as drinking or being with a girl.
She firmly stated her son did not use drugs or engage in irresponsible behavior and questioned why she would be out searching for him in her pajamas if that were the case.
In a desperate attempt to locate her son, Todd-Dunn enlisted friends to canvass the neighborhood and called local hospitals.
By the time she returned to the party location on June 18, she was met with police tape and an ambulance, only to learn that her son had been found deceased in the pool.
“I feel like the police officers failed me. They failed my son. Y’all should have done a full search if it was a pool party and I’m saying he didn’t come up out of here. Y’all should have turned the house upside down to find him,” she expressed bitterly.
A 911 call made at 12:29 p.m. that day revealed that a resident had discovered a body in his pool and believed it to be the individual police were searching for.
The caller referenced the previous police visit, stating, “Yesterday, they were — the police came here. They were looking for this kid. You know, they searched my backyard. We didn’t find him. And then this morning, we’re going into the pool, and I see, I see some guy just at the bottom of my pool.”
Despite the police’s prior check on the residence, they maintained that they did not locate Todd at the time.
In the aftermath of her son’s death, Todd-Dunn has struggled with grief, recounting how it has taken an immense emotional toll on her and those close to her.
“Everybody is taking it extremely hard,” she shared.
Todd-Dunn described her son as a caring and joyful individual who could bring happiness to others, stating, “If they were sad, he could tell them a joke and cheer them up. He was always the silly one.”
TayShaun Todd was a student of sports management at the College of Southern Nevada and was looking forward to becoming a teaching assistant at Pinecrest Academy of Nevada, where he had previously attended school.
Moreover, Todd-Dunn lamented the impact of their loss on Todd’s two younger brothers, noting, “They feel like they lost their best friend, their hero.”
The community continues to mourn the loss of TayShaun Todd while questions surrounding the police’s response remain unanswered.
As of now, the investigation into the circumstances of his death continues, with Todd-Dunn advocating for more thorough searches in situations like her son’s to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
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