Drinking dare leads to death, officials say

Girl, 8, drank boiling water through a straw

Eight-year-old Ki’ari Pope told her mother’s boyfriend that she was having trouble breathing Sunday night, months after she was injured from drinking boiling water through a straw.

About an hour later, at 12:15 a.m., she was pronounced dead, according to a report from the Florida Department of Children and Families.

Her mother, Marquisia Bonner, 22, said she was at a store when her daughter fell unconscious just before midnight Sunday. Bonner saw police when she returned to her east Boynton home, “and I knew there was something going on with my daughter,” she said.

The rising third-grader at Washington Elementary School was having medical

After Ki’ari said she couldn’t breathe, she became unconscious minutes later, a state report says.

complications since March. That’s when she drank the boiling water on a dare from her cousin after they saw a video on YouTube, where someone appeared to do it, Bonner said.

It caused Ki’ari to need emergency surgery on her windpipe to clear scar tissue so she could breathe, her mother said. The tracheotomy left her with trouble talking and breathing, she said.

Ki’ari — who played basketball for University Preparatory Academy and liked to dance — was due to see her doctor for another checkup Friday, Bonner said.

After Ki’ari told her mother’s 29-year-old “paramour” that she couldn’t breathe, she became unconscious several minutes later, according to a report from the Department of Children and Families. The boyfriend called 911, and responders took her to the hospital and tried to resuscitate her for 40 minutes before she was pronounced dead, records show.

DCF, the state’s childwelfare agency, is investigating the girl’s death. It’s the latest in a series of cases since 2009, five of them involving reports of domestic violence between the mother and her “respective paramour,” according to DCF records.

The redacted records don’t elaborate whether it’s the same boyfriend in the prior cases.

The records released by DCF were redacted to exclude the child’s name and other details, but listed her as “medically compromised.” One DCF report said the girl’s injury months ago stemmed from her drinking boiling water on a dare.

“The loss of this child is truly devastating, and our condolences go out to all those who loved her,” DCF Secretary Mike Carroll said in an emailed statement. “We have opened a child death investigation to examine the circumstances surrounding her death and will deploy a Critical Incident Rapid Response Team to review all interactions this family has had with Florida’s child welfare system.”

DCF officials did not respond to questions of whether Bonner or other family members were the subject of an investigation. It also didn’t say whether a reported instance that the agency labeled as “verified” pertained to abuse, neglect or some other domestic-related concern.

A woman at a family home who identified herself as Bonner’s cousin said DCF officials had taken Bonner’s three other children away from her Thursday afternoon.

No charges have been brought in the March case, where Ki’ari ingested boiling water.

Bonner documented her daughter’s time in the hospital on Facebook — a post from March 27 from Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami shows Ki’ari’s hand being held while the girl was in a hospital bed hooked up to monitors.

“Lords know i havent felt this kinda pain since my daddy died it hurts so much ... yall pray for my baby kiari and plz dont ask what happened!” said the caption on Bonner’s picture.

Since the surgery, the girl had gone to the emergency room twice because she couldn’t breathe, Bonner said.

The Medical Examiner’s Office is still determining the girl’s cause of death, said Boynton police spokeswoman Stephanie Slater.

“She was just a little girl full of life,” Bonner said. “Everyone loved her.”

The girl’s funeral is set for Aug. 12.