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14-year-old drowns in Lake Michigan after being warned not to leap in water

Published  September 5, 2023 8:00pm EDT
Great Lakes
Associated Press

EAST CHICAGO, Ind. (AP) - A 14-year-old boy died after leaping into Lake Michigan despite being warned not to jump off a breakwall along the lake’s northwestern Indiana shoreline, officials said.

Witnesses reported Monday that staff at the East Chicago Marina had advised a group of young people not to jump from the breakwall, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources said.

The agency said the 14-year-old boy "jumped off the wall and began to struggle in the water before disappearing below the surface" in an area near East Chicago’s lakeside Jeorse Park.

Emergency officials were called to the scene Monday afternoon and the boy was later pulled from the water, but he was pronounced dead at a hospital, the Department of Natural Resources said.

MORE: Lake Michigan drownings down 33% in 2023

The Lake County Coroner’s Office identified the boy as K’Mari Mack of East Chicago and ruled the cause of death as asphyxia due to drowning.