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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - A four-year-old is dead after falling into the pool at an Antioch apartment complex.

Metro Nashville police said Mariam Jabateh was having fun and splashing around when she started drowning on Thursday night.

The girl’s mother told officers she walked away from the water for just a few seconds to grab a water bottle when people started yelling about Jabateh drowning. Officers on the scene told WSMV4 that a man jumped into the pool, pulled the four-year-old out and started CPR. She died at the hospital.

Swim instructor TJ Carter said the drowning is terrifying and horrible, but she was not totally surprised it happened because drowning is the top cause of death for children aged one to four.

“People don’t realize you can drown in as little as 20 to 60 seconds, so a parent turns their back, and it just happens like that,” Carter said. “(This drowning) is so sad but it is so good to be educated about it, including talking to your kids about it. What do you do if you fall into a pool? Do you swim out into the middle of the pool, or can you turn around and grab the wall that is right behind you?”

Children can start swimming lessons when they are just six months old, and by the time they’re four years old, they can learn basic swimming strokes. Carter said swimming education is the most important thing families can do to keep their children safe.

If a child can float, you can hear them struggling to swim and help if needed, Carter said. If they are drowning, it is completely silent because they already sucked in water and can’t call for help. That’s why it’s always important to be within an arm’s length of children when they are in the water.

“Some kids really hate the bathtub, but the bathtub is a great tool for introducing kids to a larger body of water,” Carter said. “If we start in the bathtub desensitizing their ears, and their nose, and their mouth, we can start teaching them how to blow bubbles and hold their breath. Then they are already equipped in an emergency situation. If they were to fall in, they can already hold their breath. They know how to blow bubbles if their head goes underwater.”

She’s hoping people take precautions to prevent more children from being killed in Nashville pools this summer.

Police said Jabateh’s drowning is still under investigation by Youth Services detectives.