Adelaide toddler Junior Donley drowned in the bath

A BABY boy has tragically died in his Adelaide home, in what his mother described as an “honest mistake”.

Junior was just 15 months old when he died in his Adelaide home.

AN ADELAIDE couple say they are devastated by the death of their 15-month-old son, who drowned in the bath on Sunday afternoon.

Kelly-Anne Deverix and Paul Donley’s son Junior was having a bath at their Morphette Vale home, when Ms Deverix left him alone for “10-15 minutes” while she went to unload the washing.

She thought that Junior could stand up on his own, but when she returned his body was lifeless in the tub.

Mr Donley tried to revive him, but Junior never woke up again.

“I just grabbed him straight off [his wife], doing CPR ... I ended up with vomit in my mouth,” he told The Adelaide Advertiser.

“I thought I got him back a couple of times but I didn’t, but I didn’t fix him. Usually I can fix things, but I couldn’t fix him,” he said.

Ms Deverix says the tragic “honest mistake” means she will never get to see her “bouncy, active” blue-eyed boy again.

The boy’s parents said Junior had previously stood up on his own in the bath.

“(As a parent) we know what our children are capable of and not capable of, I just took that risk and that chance which I shouldn’t have,’’ she said.

“But I can’t go regretting, I can’t keep blaming myself for an honest mistake.”

The mother-of-four said she did not hear anything in the minutes she was in another room.

“He was very waterwise, as you can see in the photo (taken a couple of months ago) he could stand up. At times he could slip but was able to pick himself straight back up,” she said.

“But it’s true you shouldn’t leave your children alone in the bath, some of us mothers take faith in that sort of thing. If my hearing was perfect I might have heard something.”

The couple say they are trying to remain strong.

“That’s all we wanted to do at the moment, lay [Junior] to rest, then Paul and I finish our grieving and mourning,” Ms Deverix said.

“I mean, we’re always going to be in mourning, but we can get that major grief over and done with, maybe mend our souls and go on, but all in time I think.”

South Australian Police confirmed the child’s death and said there were no suspicious circumstances.

Education and Child Development Department child safety boss Etienne Scheepers said the family was “known to Families SA”.

“This is a tragic event and our hearts go out to those affected,” Mr Scheepers said.