Placid Bay Estates

Young Boy Drowns in Westmoreland

A tragic incident occurred last week near Colonial Beach, resulting in the drowning of a 3-year-old boy. The young boy, identified as Dwayne P. K. Parker, was being taught to swim by his stepfather when the accident took place in a 20-foot-deep pond. The Westmoreland County sheriff's office confirmed the unfortunate incident.

According to reports, the boy slipped out of his stepfather's arms approximately 25 feet from the shore of a four-acre pond located in Placid Bay Estates, three miles south of Colonial Beach. Despite the efforts of several individuals present in the crowded swimming lake, they were unable to locate the boy. Eventually, the Colonial Beach Rescue Squad discovered his body about an hour later at 5:30 p.m.

The stepfather, Michael Sargent of Portland, Oregon, provided his account of the incident. He mentioned that he was lying on an inner tube in the pond, holding his stepson to the side of the tube and teaching him swimming techniques, including proper breathing. Unfortunately, the accident occurred, and despite his efforts to dive after the boy, he was unable to find him.

The boy's mother, Rose Marie Sargent, also from Portland, was present during the visit to Mrs. Sargent's brothers at the Bushrod Trailer Court in King George County. The pond where the drowning occurred is located just south of Mattox Creek and approximately a mile-and-a-half away from the Potomac River.

The entire community mourns the loss of the young boy, emphasizing the importance of water safety and the need for constant vigilance, particularly when children are near bodies of water.

Sheriff C.W. Jackson reported the arrest on December 24 of Ricky Wayne Campbell, 30, of Colonial Beach following the shooting death of a six-year-old girl, Candice M. Turner, while she was sleeping in her bed.

The child was shot when a domestic argument between the child's grandmother and Campbell erupted into gunfire. The house was sprayed with what officers referred to as "a Chinese-made assault rifle or an AK-47 clone." A magazine for that type of weapon carries about 30 rounds of ammunition.

Westmoreland Sheriff's Lt Roy Sydnor reported that Campbell has been charged with murder in the death of the child, shooting into an occupied dwelling, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and three cases of attempted murder for shooting at his girlfriend (the child's grandmother), her daughter (24), and her husband, who also lived in the house. The woman's son (20) also lived in the four-room house at Placid Bay Estates, which is located about midway between Oak Grove and Colonial Beach, as well as Campbell.

A seven-month-old sister of Candice was also asleep in the same room at the time. A bullet penetrated the window above the crib where that child was sleeping, and struck the top of the bunk bed. Candice was sleeping in the lower bunk when she was hit in the head by a bullet.

Sydnor said eight bullet holes were found in the house, and one was an exit hole for a bullet that penetrated through the entire house. Neighbors reported hearing about 18 to 20 shots being fired after the argument had been going on for about 30 minutes.

The child's father had run to a neighbor's home to get them to call the police, Sydnor said, after the argument escalated and the gun came into view. No other weapons were found inside the house.

"We're still putting together bits and pieces of why the argument started, and why it escalated into violence," he said. "The child was sleeping in a front room to the right of the house and the couple were standing outside on the left of the house while they argued." The argument apparently began as Campbell and the grandmother returned to the house, and Campbell shot at the woman as she left his pickup truck. The others in the household became involved as they tried to break up the argument. Sydnor noted that alcohol was involved.

Campbell was arrested shortly after the approximately 2:30 a.m. shooting on Tuesday. A deputy found Campbell sitting in his vehicle a short distance from the house. "Luckily, nobody else was hurt," said Sheriff Jackson. "He sprayed the front of the house with bullets."

Sydnor said the incident was the first slaying recorded in Westmoreland in 1996. In 1995, the county recorded two slayings. He noted that domestic arguments have caused injuries to innocent children in the past, "but nothing of this magnitude."

Holiday periods sometimes bring out the worst in couples, he added, and deputies and state police expect to see an increase in domestic assault cases. The county had several other domestic assault cases over the holiday period, "but nothing with weapons," he said. "Again, they were nothing of this magnitude."