Tori Hamlin shared the heartbreaking story and photos on social media.
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"We put Everett to bed and we're in the living room watching a movie and hear a noise in Everett's room," Hamlin stated. "We called him out here and he (Everett) said it was his drawer that made the noise."
Hamlin said she waited 10 to 15 minutes and went in to check on him. To her surprise, when she entered the 4-year-old's room, she saw a chair against his dresser and the lid off his fish tank.
Hamlin said she and her husband took a closer look and saw Everett asleep, with his goldfish by his side.
At the time, the little boy was asleep but woke up to find his mom washing him off.
"Well he was sleeping, so when he actually woke up, I was washing him off," Hamlin told Eyewitness News. "He cried and we said 'You're not in trouble bud.'"
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Despite not being in trouble, Hamlin said Everett was sad because he had killed his lifelong friend.
But there is a happy ending to this story.
Everett's parents recently bought him a new fish with a much bigger tank that won't be easy to access.
"We have a lid on this tank that clips on and he won't be able to get it off without making a loud noise this time," Hamlin told Eyewitness News.