What happened (established timeline)
May 26, 2024 — Ariana was found unresponsive at the bottom of a backyard swimming pool during a sleepover (Dallas/Gastonia area). She was later pronounced dead; police initially said no foul play was suspected and treated it as a drowning.
June 1, 2024 — Funeral services held in Gastonia (multiple funeral home notices corroborate identity, dates, and location).
July 30, 2025 — Family and supporters rallied at the Gaston County Courthouse demanding the case be reopened and for state/federal intervention; local TV outlets reported that authorities had closed the case.
Aug–Oct 2025 — Continued media coverage and social posts; the Gaston Gazette noted Ariana and another child drowned in a 2024 backyard pool incident, while highlighting the Baldwin family’s dispute with the drowning ruling. The family has pushed petitions and media outreach.
Oct 9, 2025 — Parents announced plans to file a $500 million federal lawsuit, alleging officials falsified or hid evidence and wrongfully closed the case. (Filing status and docket details were not published in the stories; this is a reported intention.)
What authorities said (reported)
Local police originally described the death as an accidental drowning and, by mid-2025, the case was described in local coverage as closed. Public details from law enforcement and the medical examiner (ME) in the reporting are limited; no full autopsy report is published in the linked outlets.
What the family alleges (reported claims)
These are claims by Ariana’s family and advocates as reported—claims are not legal findings:
The injuries and medical records are inconsistent with accidental drowning, and authorities closed the case prematurely.
Officials falsified records and/or withheld evidence, necessitating a federal civil-rights suit and outside investigation.
What’s still missing in public view
Autopsy/ME report (full): not publicly posted in the reporting linked above.
Toxicology details, scene photos, witness statements, 911 audio, CAD logs, and body-cam from first responders.
Pool safety context (gate/alarms, supervision, number/ages of children, timeline of discovery) beyond brief summaries in TV segments.
The absence of these documents in public stories doesn’t mean they don’t exist; it means they’re not quoted or hosted in the news items we can cite.
Open questions that decide everything
- Injury pattern vs. drowning: Do autopsy findings (lungs/airways, diatoms, petechiae, abrasions/contusions) match a classic drowning, or do they suggest other trauma or post-mortem submersion?
- Timeline fidelity: Exact times for last known alive, submersion window, discovery, 911 call, EMS arrival, return of spontaneous circulation (if any).
- Supervision & pool safeguards: Number of adults present; line-of-sight supervision; fencing, self-latching gate, alarms; how long a child could be unseen.
- Consistency across records: Do police incident reports, ME findings, EMS run sheets, and hospital records align—or are there timestamp/description conflicts?
- Case-closure rationale: Which agency closed it, on what date, after what review steps; whether the District Attorney or State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) ever formally reviewed.
How to press this forward (practical, document-first plan)
You can do all of this without theatrics—just relentless, documented pressure.
1) Demand the paper. File public records requests to build a single, time-stamped dossier. In North Carolina, you can request from:
Gaston County Police / Gastonia PD (if they handled): initial incident report, supplemental reports, evidence logs, witness statements (names may be redacted), call-for-service logs, any body-cam and dash-cam.
Gaston County Communications (911): 911 audio, CAD and radio traffic logs for the incident window.
Gaston EMS / Fire: EMS run sheets (times, vitals, interventions).
NC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME): autopsy report, toxicology, ME photos (photos may be restricted), pathologist’s notes.
Hospital (through HIPAA-authorized request by parents/estate): ED records, imaging, labs, physician notes.
Template language (open-records request, North Carolina Public Records Law)
This is a request under the North Carolina Public Records Law, N.C. Gen. Stat. §132-1 et seq. Please provide electronic copies of all records concerning the May 26, 2024 death of Ariana (Arianna) Camm Baldwin, including but not limited to: incident/offense reports, supplemental narratives, case-closure memos, call-for-service/CAD logs, 911 audio, radio traffic, body-worn camera and in-car videos, evidence logs, photographs, and correspondence with the medical examiner or district attorney. Please include any records reflecting the decision to classify and close this case as an accidental drowning, and the date and sign-off for closure. If any portion is withheld, please cite the specific statutory exemption for each redaction or withholding and release all reasonably segregable portions.
2) Fix the chain of time. When you receive records, build a minute-by-minute timeline comparing: witness statements → 911 timestamps → EMS arrival → hospital times → ME pronouncement. Inconsistencies are where cases reopen.
3) Enlist the state, not just local.
DA’s Office (Gaston) — ask for the closure memo or rationale, and whether any case review was performed.
North Carolina SBI — request an independent review given disputed cause and alleged record irregularities (reference the media-documented closure and the family’s lawsuit plans).
U.S. DOJ – Civil Rights — if the lawsuit proceeds, counsel will know when to escalate federal oversight. News outlets reported the family’s intent to file a federal action.
4) Control the narrative with receipts. Keep a shared drive that holds: every request; every reply; audio files; PDFs; a single master timeline; and a public summary that cites document filenames and page numbers. When media asks for “proof,” you can point to line numbers, not vibes.
5) Medical science check. When you obtain the autopsy/tox:
Retain a forensic pathologist to produce an independent written review. The most decisive critiques come when a pathologist ties a specific sentence in the ME report to established drowning physiology and says, “this finding doesn’t follow.” News coverage already notes the family had an independent review of medical records; formalize that into an expert affidavit.
What the local press has documented (source map)
Rally and demand to reopen; family says police findings “don’t add up.”
Case closure reported in 2025 coverage; calls for state/federal review.
Obituaries/funeral notices confirm identity, dates, and location.
Intent to file federal lawsuit alleging falsified/hidden records; continuing public campaign (videos/petitions).
Gaston Gazette contextual piece noting two children drowned in the 2024 incident, while highlighting the Baldwin family’s dispute with the ruling.
Bottom line
The official public posture (as reported) is accidental drowning with the case closed.
The family’s position is that the evidence contradicts an accidental drowning, and they allege record falsification and suppression—moving toward federal civil action and demanding an independent probe.
If you want me to take the next swing, I can:
Draft targeted records requests for each agency listed.
Build a timeline template to drop documents into as they arrive.
Outline a media one-pager that cites documents (not rumors) so pressure stays disciplined and undeniable.
