Southmayd officer gave lifesaving aid to choking toddler, department says

A GvilleTX Newsroom report

SOUTHMAYD, Texas — A Southmayd police officer gave emergency aid early Tuesday to a 23-month-old girl who had reportedly stopped breathing after choking, according to a Southmayd Police Department statement released July 21. The department said Officer Scott Barrett was sent to a home in the city at roughly 12:50 a.m. and began treating the child as soon as he arrived.

The call reached the department as a medical emergency involving a young child who was choking and no longer breathing, the release said. Barrett was dispatched to the residence and, in the department's words, "responded immediately with lifesaving measures."

The release records the girl's age as 23 months, roughly a month short of her second birthday. References to her as a 2-year-old round up slightly from the age in the official account. The statement did not say how the child was doing afterward.

The department's account confirms that the call came in during the early hours of Tuesday. The release does not include a shift schedule, so the specific assignment Barrett was working is not stated in the primary record.

Southmayd's police page lists Barrett among the city's officers. A separate biography on the city website credits him with more than 20 years in law enforcement, a Master Peace Officer certification and recognition as a Field Training Officer.

For routine business, that same department page directs residents to Grayson County Dispatch to request an officer for non-emergency calls. Whitesboro, another city in the Texoma area, handles that work in-house; its police page says it staffs a full-time dispatch division around the clock for police, fire and EMS calls placed inside the city.

City records show recent changes in how Southmayd oversees its police operation. Minutes from an April 2, 2026, special City Council meeting document a vote to assign Police Chief Jeff Laughlin the additional role of City Administrator, effective April 21, with a $25,000 pay increase.

The city's proposed 2025-2026 budget lists law-enforcement expenses at $714,001. Within that total, the document sets $466,434 for payroll, $75,500 for capital outlay and $5,000 for training.

The records reviewed for this report do not give the child's name, detail her condition after the response or include a statement from her family.