Two beach-goers noticed the little girl wasn't moving and pulled her from the water.
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One of them, according to deputies, was an off-duty paramedic who attempted CPR, but she couldn't be revived.
Sheriff Ed Gonzalez indicated in a tweet appeared to have been underwater for "an unknown amount of time."
She was pronounced dead at Bayshore Hospital in Pasadena. One of the questions to be answered is whether the child was supervised when she went in the water.
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Her parents have been identified as Travis Zeno and Romomda Chandler of Houston and are undergoing investigation.
The girl would have turned 3 next month.
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