A day meant to celebrate American Independence turned tragic in Nappanee as a 10-year-old boy drowned in a public pool on July 4.
Kymani Collier was just a few days shy of turning 11 when he fell into the deep end of the Nappanee public pool on Tuesday and drowned.
According to Kymani’s family, the boy was airlifted from Elkhart General to South Bend’s Memorial Hospital where he stayed on a ventilator until Thursday morning when he was pronounced dead.
The Elkhart County Homicide unit is investigating Kymani’s death since he was a minor. Nappanee Mayor Phil Jenkins declined to answer questions by a reporter on Thursday about pool policies and staffing, but said in a statement the city is also reviewing the incident.
"Our hearts go out to the family and friends affected by this incident. We are deeply saddened by this unfortunate event and are fully committed to working with everyone affected by this tragedy," the statement read.
The pool remains closed indefinitely per the city’s social media accounts.
According to a GoFundMe page set up by Kymani’s family and comments made by Kymani’s parents to ABC57, the 10-year-old fell into the deep end of the pool. Kymani’s younger brother tried to call for help but no one came until it was too late, the family said.
Goshen Community Schools say Kymani was a 4th grader at Chamberlain Elementary and was headed to Goshen Intermediate School this Fall.
