PSP: York teen drowned at state park from medical issue

 A 15-year-old girl who drowned Saturday, July 28, in Caledonia State Park's pool was an outgoing teenager who loved singing, according to the Herald-Mail Media newspaper.

"She was a bright girl, smart and very talented," Angelita "Lita" Diaz's father said in a phone interview.

Lita, of York, was at a family party in the state park when her father heard someone yelling for help. Rob Peters saw a teenage boy struggling to pull Lita from the deep end of the pool.

Rob Peters said he initiated CPR until relieved by other bystanders with training in life-saving techniques. Emergency medical technicians took over care when they arrived.

"I tried to let them do their job, and I kept talking to her," he said.

Lita was pronounced dead at Chambersburg Hospital in Franklin County.

The Franklin County Coroner's Office alerted state police to the drowning when they were at the hospital at about 6:30 p.m., police said.

In a news release, police said they investigated the drowning and determined it was accidental, citing medical issues as the cause.

The girl's family says she had a history of seizures. Still, her father is frustrated by some aspects of the response at the pool.

A witness claimed the pool lifeguard was looking at a cellphone when the incident occurred, Peters said.

People providing CPR didn't initially heed calls to move the girl fully out of the pool and to dry land before using an automatic defibrillator to shock her heart, he said.

Lita's loved ones are planning funeral services and adjusting to not hearing her songs before she even entered a room.

"She loved singing, and she wrote songs," her father said. "She loved people."

The family has established a GoFundMe for funeral expenses.

Caledonia State Park is located in Adams and Franklin counties, between Chambersburg and Gettysburg, according to the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.