Drowning of 11-Y-0: Cousins told their mother of incident but were ignored

The two cousins of 11-year-old Akon Richards who drowned on Friday afternoon reportedly told their mother that he went into the water and did not resurface, however, she ignored them, Police Headquarters stated in a press release Saturday.

In CCTV footage, Richards was playing in the rain with two female cousins nearby the canal at Lot 45 De Kinderen, West Coast Demerara, when he jumped in.

The Police report noted that he was initially cheered on by the girls, ages 9 and 5 years old, who were on the dam but he subsequently encountered difficulties and was seen struggling to remain on the surface of the water. He was unsuccessful and went down without resurfacing, the Police report noted.

The incident occurred at about 15:45 h.

The two children were seen running away from the canal.

The Police disclosed that the two girls “went and notified their mother of what transpired but were initially ignored.”

After insisting, their mother commenced calling out for the victim and after no response she alerted the grandmother. They continued calling out for the victim but got no response.

Police said the family then mobilized a team of relatives and neighbours and carried out a search in the canal. They found him hours later at around 22:00 h not far from where he went under.

The body escorted to the Leonora Cottage Hospital where Richards was pronounced dead by a Doctor on duty.

Police did not find any marks of violence on the body which is now at the Ezekiel Funeral Parlor awaiting an autopsy.

Richards lived with his grandmother after his mother died two years ago.