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Police Investigating Bathtub Death Of 11-Month-Old Brooklyn Boy

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police are investigating the death of an 11-month-old Brooklyn baby who drowned in a freak accident in the family bathtub.

Elijah Pardella was found unconscious just after 2:30 p.m. Sunday in the family's Pennsylvania Avenue apartment, police said. He was pronounced dead at Brookdale Hospital.

Sources tell 1010 WINS the boy's mother stepped out of the bathroom after leaving Elijah and his 3-year-old sister in the tub with the drain unplugged but the water still running.

1010 WINS' Terry Sheridan reports

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Sources said the baby sat on the drain causing the tub to fill up.

"You don't know how much this hurts me," the baby's grandfather, Luis Huertas, said. "He's just a baby. I'm just like, 'Why don't you take me God, why are you taking him?'"

Little Elijah would've celebrated his first birthday later this month.

"He just called me grandpa this Saturday," Huertas said. "Every time he saw me he put on a big smile and wants me to hug him and kiss him."

The baby's mother, Angie Huertas, was questioned by police and released. No charges have been filed.

Neighbors are stunned by the accident and said Huertas was a good mother.

The incident comes just days after a 5-year-old girl drowned in a bathtub in a Brownsville home.

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