A Chattanooga man who competed on America's Got Talent with his R&B trio is facing a first-degree murder charge after his 4-year-old nephew drowned in an apartment complex pool the boy had walked to unsupervised. DeShundre Vinson, 22, was arrested Wednesday and booked into the Hamilton County Jail on bond set as high as $900,000, with a court-appointed public defender now representing him.
The boy drowned on August 16 at a pool on Central Avenue and died five days later from his injuries, according to The Independent. Chattanooga Police Department officers happened to be at the complex responding to an unrelated call around 5:40 p.m. that day when they overheard screaming near the pool area, according to a report from Medium. Officers arrived to find someone already performing CPR on the child before he was taken to a nearby hospital.
Detectives determined Vinson had been responsible for babysitting the boy, his 6-year-old brother, and several other children at the time. Investigators say Vinson allowed the two brothers to walk roughly two-tenths of a mile from the apartment to the pool without adult supervision. Surveillance footage reviewed by police, per the same Medium report, showed the 4-year-old walking from the pool's edge into deeper water, struggling, and then slipping underwater at a depth of five feet, where he remained submerged for approximately nine minutes before a bystander pulled him out.
Pool Was Marked Off-Limits to Unsupervised Children
The Central Avenue pool where the boy went under was posted with signage stating no lifeguard was on duty and prohibiting children under 14 from swimming without adult supervision, according to police reports cited by Primetimer. Investigators also say Vinson sent messages to the boys' mother acknowledging both a lack of supervision and a delayed response once the emergency began, though the dossier does not specify the exact content of those messages beyond that acknowledgment. Vinson and the apartment's leaseholder both moved out of the complex shortly after the drowning, per The Independent's reporting.
Vinson was charged with one count of first-degree murder and three counts of aggravated child abuse. He was arrested around 10:40 a.m. on September 2 at a home on Laws Avenue in Chattanooga and is due back in court Tuesday.
Charges Rest on Tennessee's Felony Murder Statute
Vinson does not need to have intended to kill his nephew to face a first-degree murder charge under Tennessee law. Under Tennessee Code Annotated § 39-13-202(a)(2), first-degree felony murder applies when a death occurs during the commission of aggravated child abuse or neglect, meaning prosecutors are not required to prove premeditation or direct intent to kill, according to Justia Law. A conviction under that statute carries three possible sentences: the death penalty, life imprisonment without parole, or life imprisonment with parole eligibility after 51 years.
The three aggravated child abuse counts he faces separately carry their own weight. Aggravated child abuse is classified as a Class A felony under T.C.A. § 39-15-402, which mandates a prison sentence of between 15 and 60 years per count upon conviction, according to N. Cate Law.
A Rising R&B Act Now Facing Scrutiny
Vinson is a member of Citi Limitz, an R&B trio he formed with his twin cousins, Marion and A.T. Toran. The group competed on Season 20 of NBC's America's Got Talent in 2025, advancing to the quarterfinals after their audition cover of K-Ci & JoJo's “All My Life” went viral, according to Yardbarker. The trio's national profile predates that appearance: Citi Limitz first performed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2019, according to footage posted on YouTube.
A Broader Pattern Behind One Family's Loss
The tragedy fits into a grim national pattern. Drowning is the leading cause of death among children ages 1 to 4 in the United States, contributing to more than 4,000 fatal unintentional drownings across all age groups every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What remains unresolved in this case is exactly how prosecutors will establish that Vinson's alleged lack of supervision and delayed response meet the legal threshold for aggravated child abuse, a question that will likely play out as the case proceeds through Hamilton County's court system. Vinson's next court date is set for Tuesday.
