Boy, 6, drowns while saving sister

SMITHFIELD, N.C. (AP) — Family members say a six-year-old boy who drowned in his grandparents' half-drained pool near Smithfield died while saving his three-year-old sister.

James Alton Barbour Junior died Saturday. James' younger sister told family members the he had pushed her to the shallow end of the pool. The family found Alona in just over a foot of water but found James motionless at the deep end of the pool.

An aunt of the children says Alona kept saying he saved her.

James apparently lost his footing while saving his sister and slipped below the water. Family members found the children after his mother noticed that the gate to the pool was open.

Officials with the Johnston County Sheriff's Department say they don't expect to file charges.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)