The boy was pronounced dead minutes after arriving at an Arizona hospital, while records indicate key laboratory results were still pending.
GILBERT, Ariz. — New medical records are raising questions about the treatment of a toddler who was pronounced dead at Mercy Gilbert Medical Center after a near-drowning and then discovered alive more than five hours later in the hospital’s morgue area.
Vincent Fiordilino was 18 months old when he was taken to the hospital on Feb. 8 after being found unresponsive in a swimming pool during a family gathering. Medical records reviewed by local news organizations show he arrived at about 6:04 p.m. and was pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m. The records, police reports and body-camera footage have since become central to questions raised by his family about whether doctors ended treatment before all available information had been considered.
According to records provided by the family’s attorney and reviewed by Arizona news organizations, an arterial blood gas test was ordered at about 6:08 p.m. and later canceled. Other laboratory samples were collected at 6:11 p.m. Body-camera footage recorded an officer asking at 6:13 p.m. whether blood-gas results were available. Records reviewed by ABC15 indicate results later cited in connection with the medical decision were not available until 6:38 p.m., 18 minutes after Vincent was pronounced dead. The family’s attorney has questioned the timing of those results and the decision to stop resuscitation efforts.
Vincent’s mother, Alexus Fiordilino, has spoken publicly about the case in recent days, describing the moment she believed her son had died and the shock of later learning he was alive. She told ABC15 that relatives thought they noticed signs of breathing while saying goodbye to Vincent. Police reports released earlier this year also described officers and hospital personnel noticing possible signs of life. Those observations included movement in the child’s chest and abdomen and a report that a nurse believed a pulse was present.
Dr. Aryan Toosi, the emergency physician identified in police and medical records, pronounced Vincent dead at 6:20 p.m. According to accounts of the body-camera footage, concerns about possible breathing and a pulse were raised around the time of the pronouncement. The records do not establish that those observations were proof Vincent had recovered at that point, and no court or regulatory agency has issued a public finding that Toosi committed medical wrongdoing.
At about 11:52 p.m., a transporter from the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office arrived at the hospital to retrieve Vincent and discovered that the child was breathing and had a pulse, according to police records. The discovery came about five and a half hours after the recorded time of death. Vincent was then taken for additional emergency treatment and survived. His family has said he continues to face serious health problems and will require ongoing care.
The case has renewed scrutiny of what happened during the short period between Vincent’s arrival at Mercy Gilbert and the declaration of death. His family’s attorney has questioned why an ordered blood-gas test was canceled, when other test results became available and whether additional measures should have been taken before Vincent was declared dead. Those questions remain allegations raised by the family and its attorney rather than established findings of negligence.
Dignity Health, which operates Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, called the situation heartbreaking in a statement to ABC15 but said patient privacy prevented it from discussing the care provided or the people involved. An attorney for Toosi similarly declined to discuss the details of Vincent’s treatment, citing patient privacy laws and pending litigation. The attorney said Toosi’s thoughts were with Vincent and his family and that the physician remained committed to providing high-quality care.
The Gilbert Police Department said its investigation did not establish probable cause for criminal conduct by medical personnel and that no criminal charges were forwarded against them. Police said the matter was being referred to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office for review. The family has said it intends to pursue legal action over Vincent’s medical treatment, but no final judicial or administrative finding of wrongdoing has been publicly established.
The circumstances of Vincent’s near-drowning were reviewed separately. Gilbert police recommended child abuse charges against his parents, Angelo and Alexus Fiordilino, but the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office announced July 29 that it would not prosecute them. County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said investigators found no evidence the parents showed obvious signs of impairment and that the available evidence did not meet the office’s standard of a reasonable likelihood of conviction.
Vincent’s family is now seeking answers about the medical decisions made after he reached the hospital. Any civil litigation or state review could provide further examination of the treatment timeline, including the testing, observations and decision to pronounce him dead. As of Oct. 23, no public finding has established criminal or civil liability for the medical personnel involved.
Author note: Last updated October 23, 2026.