Ormond Beach community holds funeral for 4-year-old drowning victim

ORMOND BEACH, Fla. - Mourners gathered in Ormond Beach on Sunday for the funeral of a young boy. Waylon Childs, who was autistic and non-verbal, was just four years old. "We're going to lay him to rest and say our goodbyes. Not really goodbyes, but I like to say it's our till we see you on the other side," said Katie Olinger, Waylon’s aunt.

Olinger said the boy, who she took care of every week, was a light in their lives. "We called them Waylon Wednesdays. It's just not going to be the same and it's just my kids are missing him too, and all the other cousins and his brothers, I'm sure. It's a really big hole in our family, for sure."

Waylon was with his dad and siblings at an Ormond Beach playground when they say he went missing in the blink of an eye. They found his body in a nearby pond nine hours later, after rescue teams tirelessly searched for him.

Drowning is the number one cause of death for people with autism and Florida leads the way in child drownings resulting in death. This year across Florida, 95 children have drowned, and 26 of them had autism. "There's a very high correlation between drowning and autism," said Jennifer Cicia, an autism disorder specialist at UCF, "sometimes autistic children do not quite understand a dangerous situation."

Olinger said if the playground had a fence around it, Waylon may not have been able to wander off toward the water. "If you're contained, you have your children in a closer space, and if pools at homes have to have alarms and gates, especially close to the water, especially as close as that was to the water, should have already had a gate up."

Olinger said they want to make child safety part of Waylon’s legacy. She said the city was looking into putting up a fence around the playground. "I really hope we can start a foundation in his name and really push for the fencing. Not only in Volusia County, but in the state."