Mother of woman pulled from Lake Michigan at Navy Pier stresses importance of water safety
Her mother tells CBS News Chicago it serves as a horrible reminder of the importance of life jackets.
"I would not wish this type of pain on any parent. Oh my gosh," Kizzy Wells said, fighting back tears.
Her daughter, 27-year-old Zahrie Walls, stole her heart, and now she is in pain.
"It doesn't feel real," she said.
Zahrie was on a boat in Lake Michigan near Navy Pier with a group of friends, and Chicago Fire officials say she somehow fell off. The US Coast Guard found her body a mile and a half from shore. She was taken to Northwestern Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
"We don't know one hundred percent what happened, but as the days come about, we know that God called her home," Walls' godfather Brian Pickett said.
Wells said her daughter didn't know how to swim and was not wearing a life jacket, something her mother said is a reminder for people as they head out on the water this summer.
"That's Lake Michigan. It's not a pool," she said. "You have to have special equipment during times such as that."
Wells said her daughter was a celebrity hairstylist. At the young age of 14, she decided she wanted to be a beautician.
Kenneka Jenkins was her best friend, and she would experiment on her.
"She would do different styles on her head to test. She was like the tester of the different styles," Wells said.
Jenkins died of hypothermia inside a hotel walk-in freezer in 2017. Wells says Jenkins invited her daughter to the party at the Crowne Plaza in Rosemont, but she declined.
"If my baby would have been there, Kenneka, it wouldn't have happened, but God has an expiration date we don't have control over," Wells said.
Pickett said that despite her hustle to become a hairstylist, she remained humble and giving.
"She left a complete mark on this earth for all people. She exemplified that," he said.
The Coast Guard said it responded to 34 calls this weekend. On a typical summer weekend, it normally responds to five to ten calls.
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