CHARLOTTE, N.C. — An NBC Charlotte Defenders investigation is answering a troubling question: What’s killing children in Mecklenburg County?
The Defenders team is disclosing data from a new report revealing preventable deaths in 2017 were the highest in a decade. More than half of the deaths were caused by injury, which includes everything from child abuse and drownings to homicide and suicide.
Now NBC Charlotte is looking into what parents need to know to keep their children safe.
It’s impossible to predict every danger out there for children, but the new report shows how children are dying in preventable ways, and the numbers are moving in the wrong direction.
Over the past year, there have been several tragic incidents around the Charlotte area where children have died from injuries.
In Gaston County, a 12-year-old died in an apparent freak accident after falling to the ground in a trampoline park.
In another case, a 13-year-old drowned on Mountain Island Lake. Investigators said the teen was not wearing a life vest; it was not legally required because the boat was anchored when he fell off.
“If you’re on the water, have a personal floatation device. I don’t care if you’re an Olympic swimmer,” a first responder said at the time.
It comes as the Defenders team learns of an unprecedented spike in preventable child deaths in Mecklenburg County. A new report presented to the county board showed 51% of the deaths were caused by injury in 2017, which is the most recent year with available statistics.
That’s 20 of 39 fatalities considered preventable, which is a record high in the last decade.
“We are concerned about it,” said Bob Simmons, executive director for the Council of Children’s Rights.
Officials said for younger children, the increase can be chalked up to child abuse, accidental poisoning, and drownings. Simmons told NBC Charlotte there were four drownings in 2017, which is more than 10% of the total deaths.
“Water safety courses and the training in that can help reduce drownings which are another category especially in summer that we see increase,” Simmons told NBC Charlotte.
For adolescents, homicide and suicide were major factors, according to the data. Those categories accounted for five deaths each in 2017.
The Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department said too many murders stem from young people using guns to resolve differences. As for suicide, Simmons said the county needs to expand resources for mental health providers.
“That’s something we continue to lag in this community, and that really is one of the primary underlying problems,” Simmons said.
The data showed the rate of preventable deaths among infants was far lower at 7%. County officials said the most common cause in those cases was accidental suffocation.