2-year-old California boy dies after drinking cleaning solution

MERCED, Calif. – Merced County officials say a two-year-old boy has died after his grandmother gave him what she thought was a bottle of water to drink, but the bottle actually contained a cleaning solution.

Sheriff’s Deputy Tom MacKenzie, a department spokesman, told the Merced Sun-Star when the boy became thirsty while playing at his grandparents shop Friday afternoon, the grandmother gave him water from a bottle she found on the floorboard of her husband’s truck.

When the boy — identified as Jack Shearer — started choking, his grandfather realized the boy had ingested a caustic cleaner used to clean aluminum rims.

After the boy’s grandfather drove the child to a hospital in Merced, the child was taken to a second hospital in Madera, where he was pronounced dead.

MacKenzie says detectives believe the incident was nothing more than a tragic accident.

No charges are expected to be filed.