5-Year-Old Who Was Pulled From Pool Dies : Tragedy: Grandmother describes events that preceded the back-yard incident in which a younger sister was rescued.

ORANGE —  Five-year-old Randi Newkirk of Walnut died Sunday without regaining consciousness after being found Wednesday at the bottom of a back-yard swimming pool at her grandparents’ Fullerton home. Her 3-year-old sister Robyn had been rescued from the pool shortly before.

The children’s grandmother, Lois Newkirk, said she and her husband, Russell, were at Randi’s side when she died at 12:12 p.m. at Childrens Hospital of Orange County. Moments before, the grandparents had gotten a chance to hug her and talk to her.

“She was at peace,” Lois Newkirk said. “She looked like an angel. . . . For me, it was a beautiful experience. It was like the Lord gave us this time to see this last moment of peace.”

Randi had been been in critical condition since a firefighter pulled her from the bottom of the pool, a nursing supervisor said.

Robyn Newkirk, who was pulled to safety by her grandmother, was released to the care of her parents, David and Patricia Newkirk of Walnut, on Saturday.

On Sunday, Lois Newkirk described events that led to the accident at their home at 1831 N. Sunset Lane.

She said that she, Robyn and Randi had been watering and weeding potted plants around the pool area. She had picked some weeds, so she went to the side of their house to dump them in trash bins. The children had been playing peacefully with their flotation toys at the steps of the pool when she left, Newkirk said.

“I left the yard for three minutes,” she said. “I didn’t think I was putting them in any danger. Everything seemed so safe.”

When she returned, she saw Robyn face down in the pool. She jumped in and grabbed her, but didn’t spot Randi.

“I started screaming,” Newkirk said. “I didn’t see Randi. I started giving (Robyn) CPR and then I called 911. I had Robyn in my arms.

“I kept calling for Randi. I thought maybe she went looking for me because I hadn’t told them I went to the side of the house. I never dreamed in this world that Randi was at the bottom of the pool.”

Firefighters rushed to the scene and pulled Randi from the eight-foot-deep end of the pool. Authorities estimated that she had been there for 15 minutes. She was not breathing and her heart had stopped. Newkirk said that even if she had spotted Randi, she doubted whether she could have saved her because she is a poor swimmer.

The two girls were taken to St. Jude Hospital and Rehabilitation Center in Fullerton, and Randi was transferred to Childrens Hospital. Doctors had rated her chances of survival as slim. She had been in a coma and was being assisted by a respirator but sporadically breathed on her own.

“People my age need to have a special warning,” said Newkirk, 59. “Grandparents, realize that we’re not always in control.”

Randi’s parents had kept a vigil at her bedside until early Sunday morning, Newkirk said. Randi had one of her favorite toys, a “puff-a-lump,” next to her, she said.

“Her parents were with her all night until it just became too difficult for them,” Newkirk said. “Then they said goodby to her.”

Randi’s parents preferred not to make a statement Sunday evening, said Edwin Newkirk, Lois Newkirk’s son.

Newkirk said that she doesn’t know what went through her mind when she left the two youngsters alone.

“I had sworn I would never leave them alone,” she said. “I don’t know why I did. My brain played a trick on me.”

But she added that she had always kept a close watch on her four children when they were young, and all 11 of her grandchildren.

” . . . I have watched the kids religiously,” she said. “I have never done anything that’s chancy at all.

“I didn’t like the feeling that I let the kids run the whole neighborhood. My husband and I have committed our whole lives to them.”

Funeral arrangements are pending.