Indiana tallies drownings, co-sleeping deaths

A 7-year-old was holding hands with his sibling as they stepped into the water, because the 7-year-old could not swim. Then the child went under, and the sibling was helpless to save him.

The sibling later told authorities the father, who also couldn't swim, didn't hear cries for help until it was too late — because the dad had been talking on his cell phone.

That's only one synopsis of Indiana children whose deaths were preventable, listed in a Indiana Department of Child Services' report released last week. The deaths were between July 1, 2013, to June 30, 2014.

The report lists a record-high number of abuse and neglect fatalities since 2003, as far back as the online database goes. DCS spokesman James Wide attributes the higher number to more reports of abuse and neglect statewide since 2010, and more case workers hired in recent years to investigate them.