Special prosecutor takes over King Overton drowning case after Henrico attorney reveals SwimRVA ties

HENRICO COUTY, Va. — A special prosecutor has taken over the case of a 9-year-old boy who drowned at a SwimRVA summer camp after a potential conflict of interest was discovered inside the Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney's Office.

King Overton drowned on June 15, 2026, while attending his first day of swim camp at the SwimRVA North location.

Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney Shannon Taylor said her office, along with Henrico Police and Henrico Child Protective Services, had been working to determine the swim camp's setup and the roles of responsibility leading up to Overton's drowning.

During that investigation, Taylor said there was also an arson investigation for a fire that occurred at the site where the camp had been held. Henrico Fire marshals concluded the fire was accidental.

Watch: SwimRVA-North fire ruled accidental

Taylor said that after the arson investigation was formally concluded, an attorney in her office asked the attorney assigned to the drowning matter if the SwimRVA investigation had been concluded.

"She relayed to them that it was not, that we were still looking into the drowning death," Taylor said.

At that point, Taylor said, the employee brought it to his supervisor's attention that he is a paid employee of SwimRVA — something she said was not known at the time of the drowning.

"Because the matter was being handled by the attorneys in our Juvenile Court Office, which is housed in a separate building, an attorney in the Main Office would not necessarily have any interaction with their Juvenile Court colleagues," Taylor said.

Taylor said that upon learning the information, her office asked the Honorable Rondelle Herman, Chief Judge of the Henrico Circuit Court, to appoint a special prosecutor.

On Friday, the judge appointed Chesterfield County Commonwealth's Attorney Erin Barr to take over the case.

"This means that my office is no longer involved in the investigation, and both the Henrico detective and CPS investigator will now work with Ms. Barr and her assigned attorney on this case," Taylor said.

Taylor said the development was brought to the attention of King's mother, identified as Ms. Johnson, through her attorney Mark Krudys, and that her office has offered to sit down with the family to explain the process in person.

Taylor's request for a special prosecutor comes more than two months after Overton's death, with his family, parents of other campers and the public still having no answers about what exactly took place at the SwimRVA North location the day he drowned.

Watch: Family vows to seek justice for King Overton

CBS 6 investigative reporter Melissa Hipolit continues to ask questions of SwimRVA, police, Taylor and the Virginia Department of Education about why and how the 9-year-old drowned at a place his mother says he went to learn how to swim.

Documents and emails obtained through a public records request to the Virginia Department of Education include an email that appears to show the positions and ages of staff members on site the day Overton drowned.

They include a director of life safety, two life safety coordinators and three lifeguards.

One of those lifeguards — age 17 — was guarding the "L" pool where the "incident took place."

Also present were four counselors, a camp coordinator and a free swim instructor in the water.

The email states only the counselors for swim groups Red and Green were at the pool, and the other camp staff were with campers at the camp home base, which was the nearby Civic Association building.

Those counselors were ages 18 and 19.

The documents also appear to show the roster of children who attended camp the same week as Overton.

They include three swim groups of 12 children each and a fourth swim group with nine kids.

According to a 2025 SwimRVA camp counselor training manual also obtained through the public records request, counselors were required to maintain a staff-to-camper ratio of 1 to 10 at all times.

Hipolit asked SwimRVA to clarify exactly which staff members were at the pool where King Overton drowned when he drowned, and how SwimRVA was able to maintain the 1-to-10 counselor-to-child ratio when most of their swim groups had 12 kids in them.

SwimRVA did not directly answer those questions.

"The drowning death of King Overton on June 15, 2026 was a tragic accident. SwimRVA has cooperated with authorities looking into what occurred that day. We have shared that our camp program was more than adequately staffed on that date," SwimRVA said.

This is a developing story, so check back with WTVR.com for updates. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have info, photos or videos to share.