Deshundre Vinson, a 22-year-old former America's Got Talent contestant, has been charged with first-degree murder and three counts of aggravated child abuse in connection with the drowning death of his 4-year-old nephew. The boy was underwater for nine minutes before being pulled out and later died from his injuries five days after being hospitalized. Surveillance video shows that the boy walked into deeper water unsupervised, where he struggled before going underwater. Vinson is accused of allowing the two boys to walk over a mile to the apartment pool without supervision.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Deshundre "Dre" Vinson, a 22-year-old singer from the R&B group CitiLimitz, has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in relation to the drowning of his 4-year-old nephew on August 16. The boy was found unconscious at an apartment swimming pool, and despite CPR efforts, he died five days later. Vinson was babysitting his nephew and another child at the time, along with his own 6-year-old brother, but allowed them to walk about 0.2 miles to the pool without adult supervision. He has also been charged with three counts of aggravated child abuse, and is being held on a $750,000 bond. Vinson's next court date is set for September 8.
Written for “America's Got Talent Contestant Murde…” on 2026-09-07,
grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
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No political leaning scored for article 5778 · logged 2026-09-06
Former America’s Got Talent contestant Deshundre Vinson has been charged with murder in connection with the drowning death of his 4-year-old nephew, who authorities say was underwater for nine minutes.
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authorities → charge → minutes
Vinson, 22, was arrested Wednesday in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and charged with first-degree murder and three counts of aggravated child abuse stemming from the August 16 drowning at a local swimming pool, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office said.
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Office → arrest → pool
Authorities were responding to a different incident at an apartment complex Wednesday when they heard screaming from the pool area — and found CPR was already in process on the little boy, Chattanoogan.com reported.
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Chattanoogan.com → respond → boy
The boy appeared to be unconscious when he was pulled out of the swimming pool.
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he → appear → pool
He had been underwater for about nine minutes, according to an arrest affidavit viewed by WTVC.
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He → accord → WTVC
He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died from his injuries five days later.
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he → take → injuries
Surveillance video showed the boy walking from the edge of the pool into deeper water, according to the affidavit.
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boy → show → affidavit
The report states that the boy struggled before going underwater.
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boy → state → ?
Eventually, someone pulled him out and began CPR.
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someone → pull → CPR
Detectives later determined that Vinson, the boy’s uncle, was responsible for babysitting him, his 6-year-old brother and several other children at the time of the drowning.
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Vinson → determine → drowning
However, Vinson allowed the 4-year-old and 6-year-old to walk two-tenths of a mile to the apartment pool unsupervised, police said.
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police → allow → pool
In the affidavit, investigators note that Vinson sent messages to the boys’ mother acknowledging the lack of supervision and delayed response to the drowning.
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Vinson → note → drowning
Police also said that Vinson and the person whose name was on the apartment lease moved out shortly after the drowning.
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name → say → drowning
He has been charged with one count of first-degree murder and three counts of aggravated child abuse.
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He → charge → abuse
His next court date is scheduled for Tuesday.
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date → schedule → Tuesday
Vinson is part of Citi Limitz, a R&B trio that appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and America’s Got Talent.
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that → appear → Show
