Clarkton child, 4, drowns in pond near home

BLADEN COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — The Bladen County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the drowning of a 4-year-old boy. Deputies say the child’s parents were sleeping in the home when he was able to get out and walk to a pond nearby.

Deputies said the incident happened Thursday, May 21 in Clarkton near the 2200 block of Mitchell Ford Road. They say Zackery Blaze Priest, 4, was found floating face up in a pond by a person living nearby after 9:00 a.m. They say the boy walked approximately 100 yards, crossed a highway and walked another 100 yards to get to the pond. Deputies say the 4-year-old died the next day.

Bladen County Sheriff James McVicker said when deputies came to the home to tell the parents, they were asleep and told investigators the outside door had been locked after getting another child off to school earlier that morning.

There have been no charges filed in the case, but the case remains under investigation with the sheriff’s office, DSS and the district attorney.

The funeral for the child was held this morning in Elizabethtown.