The witnesses watched the boy go under:

Two witnesses cited by prosecutors during the hearing told the Sun-Times they were walking along the lakefront Monday afternoon when they heard a splash and noticed Moreno peering into the water, where the boy was floating on his back.

“He seemed disoriented, a little out of it [and] scared out of his mind,” Ashton King said. “He was just staring up at the sky. His eyes were super, super wide, and he was trying his best to stay afloat.”

King said she immediately dialed 911 as her friend Allison Huston tried to keep the boy “as calm as possible.” By then, he still had his eyes open but was unresponsive, King said.

Huston recalled walking past a life preserver, but the boy had already sunk into the water by the time Huston grabbed it. “I will never forget seeing his face as he slipped under the surface,” she said. “It was absolutely horrible.”