Community Mourns Death Of Toddler Who Drowned In Prospect Park Lake

A family suffered an incredibly sad ending to a lovely day in Prospect Park after their daughter, who went missing with her cousin from the family’s party, was found dead in the lake later that afternoon.

On Saturday, July 5, police say they responded to the report of a missing child near the Boathouse, where the mother of 2-year-old Ruhshona Kurbonova said the girl had possibly gone into the lake. An NYPD Scuba Unit deployed divers into the lake, where they recovered the body of the girl, who was pronounced dead at the scene. According to NY1, the medical examiner has ruled the death accidental.

The Daily News reports the two kids slipped away unnoticed from the family’s party, and the cousin, a 3-year-old boy, was soon found near the lake. When asked what happened to Ruhshona, they say he pointed at the water. After she was found in the lake, the girl’s mother was reportedly so overcome that she had to be taken away on a stretcher.

Yesterday at the family’s home in Mapleton, where “Ruhshona was known to wrangle with her scooter and chase after handballs,” the Times reports that neighbors and friends visited to pay their respects.

Our deepest condolences to the family.