Boy, 7, dies week after falling ill at recreation center

A week after a 7-year-old boy was found unresponsive at the Opelika Covington Recreation Center, the boy died Thursday from an anoxic brain injury, authorities said.

Liam Kawaguchi of Opelika was declared brain dead at 1:32 p.m. , said Lee County Coroner Bill Harris. The body will be transported to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences for a postmortem examination.

Harris said police and emergency medical services personnel were called to the recreation center about 11:40 a.m. June 21 to check on an unresponsive child. At the scene, they found cardio-pulmonary resuscitation performed before he was rushed to the East Alabama Medical Center's emergency room.

The child who was in critical condition was then flown to Birmingham to Children's Hospital of Alabama. The boy's condition didn't improve and he was declared dead.

The death remains under investigation by the Opelika Police, Lee County Coroner’s Office and the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences.

This story was originally published June 29, 2018 at 6:14 PM.