Arizona Doctor Faces No Criminal Charges After Wrongly Declaring a Living Toddler Dead and Sending Him to a Hospital Morgue

An Arizona osteopathic physician will face no criminal charges after wrongly pronouncing a living 18-month-old boy dead and clearing him for the hospital morgue, where a medical examiner's team found him breathing more than five hours later.

The boy nearly drowned in a backyard pool during a Super Bowl party in Gilbert on 8 Feb 2026, and staff at Mercy Gilbert Medical Center declared him dead at 18:20 despite officers and family reporting repeated gasps for air.

A medical examiner's transport crew discovered the child alive inside the hospital's cold room at 23:52 that night. Newly released police records, 911 calls, and body-camera footage now lay out how the error unfolded, even as prosecutors weigh separate charges against the parents rather than the doctor.

A Super Bowl Drowning and a Death Called in Error

Relatives pulled the toddler from a backyard swimming pool at about 17:30 on 8 Feb 2026, and a 911 call captured a family member frantically describing CPR as first responders raced to the scene. The police report says the boy had been floating face down for roughly 10 to 15 minutes before he was rushed to Mercy Gilbert Medical Center.

A doctor pronounced the child dead at 18:20, and the parents were brought in to say goodbye, according to the Gilbert police report. One officer later wrote that the baby was declared dead 'in error,' a phrase quoted by the ABC15 Investigators, who reviewed the report and six body-camera videos.

Public records reviewed by that team identify the physician as Aryan Toosi, a doctor of osteopathic medicine licensed through the Arizona Osteopathic Board, with no disciplinary actions listed on his license.

What the Police Report and Body Cameras Documented

The report describes a tense exchange minutes before the declaration. As the doctor prepared to notify the parents, a nurse in another room said, 'I have a pulse,' and when an officer tried to relay that, the doctor allegedly dismissed the concern. '[The doctor] arrogantly told me he was the doctor, he has the medical degree, he went to medical school for a reason, and to let him do his thing,' the officer wrote in the report quoted by ABC15.

Two officers kept documenting signs of life for about an hour after the death was called. One wrote that 'the release of air was audible and visible' and that the child later seemed to be 'gasping for air,' while a nurse attributed the sounds to agonal breathing linked to compressions, oxygen, and pressure from relatives during goodbyes.

Staff moved the boy to the cold room, which serves as the morgue and is kept at 36 to 39 degrees Fahrenheit, and, per the report cited by NBC affiliate KPNX, closed the door at 19:23.

The child stayed there for hours. At 23:52, a medical examiner's transport crew arrived to collect the body, which they found him breathing, NBC News reported, and crews airlifted him to Phoenix Children's Hospital. An MRI showed brain damage, and ABC15 reported he is expected to need lifelong care. NBC News identified the boy as Vincent Lorenzo Fiordilino, though the police report does not name him.

Why Prosecutors Are Scrutinising the Parents, Not the Physician

Gilbert police forwarded the case to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office in early June, recommending that the parents be reviewed for child abuse rather than the doctor. According to the police report cited by NBC News, both parents told investigators they had been smoking marijuana and were not closely watching their son, who wandered to the pool during the game. A county attorney spokesperson said the office received the submittal in early June and that it remains under review, and no charges have been filed.

Dignity Health, which operates Mercy Gilbert, did not discuss the doctor's employment or the specifics of the care. 'This is a heartbreaking situation,' a spokesperson said in a statement to AZFamily and ABC15, adding that the hospital 'immediately conducted a thorough review of all aspects of the care' and moved 'to make meaningful changes to strengthen our care.' An attorney for Toosi declined to comment in detail but told reporters there is 'much more to this case, both factually and medically, than has been reported thus far.'

The family, represented by counsel, has largely stayed silent, and an attorney declined to comment to ABC15. Relatives set up a crowdfunding page to help with the boy's medical costs, NBC News reported.

A child pronounced dead and left in a morgue is alive today, yet the only people facing possible prosecution are the parents who called for help, while the physician who missed a pulse walks away uncharged.