Arizona Doctor Pronounces Living Toddler Dead And Leaves Him In Freezing Morgue For Six Hours

An Arizona mother is seething with fury after a hospital doctor declared her 18-month-old son dead following a near-drowning, only for the baby to be found still breathing nearly six hours later in the facility’s ice-cold morgue.

Alexus Fiordilino says her toddler, Vincent, suffered permanent brain damage and will need lifelong care after the nightmare at Mercy Gilbert Medical Center in Gilbert on Super Bowl Sunday. The family is now planning legal action against the doctor and the hospital, while the physician faces no criminal charges.

The horror began on Feb. 8 when little Vincent was pulled unresponsive from the family’s backyard pool during a gathering. First responders rushed him to the emergency room, where staff continued resuscitation efforts.

According to police reports and body-camera footage reviewed by local outlets, Dr. Aryan Toosi told the parents around 6:13 p.m. that continuing care would be “pointless” and that the child’s blood pH levels were too high for survival. He pronounced Vincent dead at 6:20 p.m., telling the family, “As long as there are no objections, I’d like to call time of death.”

The parents said their goodbyes. But moments later, a nurse reported a pulse. Police officers standing nearby heard the baby gasp, not once, but multiple times. When one officer tried to alert the doctor that the child might still be alive, Toosi allegedly brushed him off “arrogantly,” saying, according to the report: “I’m the doctor. I have the medical degree. I went to medical school for a reason. Let me do my thing.”

Hospital staff then moved the toddler into the facility’s “cold room”, the morgue, kept between 36 and 39 degrees. The door was closed around 7:23 p.m. Vincent remained there, alone, for roughly five and a half hours.

It was not until nearly midnight, around 11:52 p.m., that a medical examiner’s transport team arrived to retrieve what they believed was a body. They found the baby still breathing and with a pulse. He was immediately airlifted to Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

Fiordilino, 30, later told reporters she felt “grossly misled” by the doctor’s assessment of her son’s condition. “As a mom you don’t want to hear that,” she said. “I didn’t want him to suffer.” She also recalled hearing what sounded like breathing as she said goodbye and being told it was normal.

Medical records obtained by the family’s attorney, John Brewer, raise further questions. A critical blood-gas test that Toosi cited to justify ending resuscitation efforts was not completed until 6:38 p.m. — 18 minutes after the time of death was called. Police body-cam footage captured staff saying the results were not yet available when the doctor made his decision.

Vincent ultimately survived but sustained severe neurological damage. He has not regained the ability to walk independently or speak and will require constant care, according to the family and their lawyer. Brewer has said the hours spent in the morgue contributed to the child’s injuries and plans to file formal complaints against both the doctor and the hospital.

Dignity Health, which operates Mercy Gilbert, issued a brief statement calling the situation “heartbreaking” while citing patient privacy and declining further comment. Toosi’s attorney said the doctor’s thoughts are with the patient and family and that he wishes the child continued healing, but declined to discuss details due to pending litigation.

Maricopa County prosecutors previously cleared the parents of any child-abuse charges related to the pool incident, finding no evidence of criminal impairment or inadequate safety measures at the home. The doctor, however, has not faced criminal charges. Police reports noted the toddler was declared dead “in error.”

Fiordilino has described the ordeal as unimaginable. “He was alone for 5½ hours. How do you do that to a baby?” she asked. The family says they are determined to seek accountability so no other parent has to endure the same.