Retired State Trooper, Wife Facing Charges In Pool Drowning

Charges have been issued against a retired state police trooper and his wife after a teenager drowned at their home last month.

WBZ-TV reports a clerk magistrate in Dedham District Court determined Wednesday that there is probable cause to charge James Coughlin and his wife with serving alcohol to minors and reckless endangerment.

Alonzo Polk, 17, died days after he was pulled from the pool the Coughlin's house in Dedham during a graduation party for high school graduates.

Police had filed a criminal complaint against the couple seeking the misdemeanor charges. At Wednesday's hearing, officers testified there was underage drinking at the party and beer cans scattered throughout the yard, the station reports.

The Coughlins' attorney said Polk wasn't a known drinker and had apparently been thrown into the pool by a friend who didn’t realize he couldn’t swim.

A large group of Polk's family and supporters attended Wednesday's hearing saying they were seeking justice for the recent graduate, who they said planned to attend Bridgewater State University to study engineering.