WARWICK, R.I. — East Providence resident Angel Soares said Monday she's the one who pulled a 6-year-old boy who died of an apparent drowning from the water Sunday evening at Warwick City Park.
"I'll never forget that feeling," she said.
Monday morning, the police identified the boy as Jamir Stewart, of Providence, the son of Skyla Araujo and Wilbert Stewart III. The police had been called to the park in the Buttonwoods section of the city at about 5:50 p.m., after lifeguards had begun searching for the boy, police Lt. Joseph Petrarca said Sunday night. The police searched on land, and firefighters responded and began searching in the water, he said.
Soares said she didn't know the boy's mother until they met at the beach during the search for the boy, but she did know some of his family members.
Soares spoke with The Providence Journal because she said she's upset that the two lifeguards on duty didn't do enough to find the boy.
At a news conference Monday morning, Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian said those lifeguards are college students. He commended their actions, adding that they had been put on administrative duty as a matter of routine.
Warwick Police Chief Col. Stephen M. McCartney said emergency personnel who arrived on the scene were not able to ascertain how long the child had been missing, and where he was last seen, which made it difficult to focus the search.
"Because we didn't have any specifics as to where the child was last seen," Avedisian said, "it meant the police department fanned out through the whole land area and the fire went to the beach area and the lifeguard did a visual check and cleared the water and had the civilians assist them in doing a linked-arm chain in the water."
McCartney declined to name the lifeguards, saying that's because of "physical safety issues."
McCartney said city employees he wouldn't identify were victims of a "physical assault" in the chaotic moments after the boy was found, while a firefighter was administering CPR. Nobody has been arrested, and nobody's going to be charged, McCartney said, saying the city employees refused to file a complaint, likely because they realized the family was "completely overwrought."
City Park juts out into the waters of Brush Neck Cove to its north and Buttonwoods Cove to its south. Those coves empty into Greenwich Bay.
Soares and her husband, Troy Soares Sr., had gone to the beach late in the day. It was a busy day, with more than 100 people at the beach.
A mother, aunts and children were in the water together when the adult women lost sight of the 6-year-old boy, Soares said.
"And they immediately went to the lifeguards," she said.
- Perhaps Jamir was off playing with friends, the lifeguard suggested, according to Soares. No, the women insisted. He wasn't the kind to leave his mother's side and go off to play.
The women urged the lifeguards to get people out of the water and go in and search for the boy.
One lifeguard made phone calls. He told Troy he was calling the police and fire departments, Soares said.
The police arrived. So did firefighters.
The lifeguards ordered people out of the water, Soares said.
But when emergency responders still hadn't gotten into the water themselves, Soares said the boy's mother and aunts took charge.
They began searching, and perhaps 10 to 12 people on the beach joined in, Angel said: "It was us who formed a human chain."
McCartney offered a different explanation: "It would appear the lifeguards started the linked arm operation which ultimately found the child," he said.
The human chain didn't have enough people at first. People were really stretching their arms out far at that point, Soares said. More people joined in, and it grew to perhaps 20 people.
After searching for some time, the man to her left said, "Oh my God," and froze. Soares reached down under the water and felt the boy. He was face down. With both hands, she said, she pulled him up out of the water and started running toward shore. He was unresponsive.
"I was just so devastated picking him up," she said. "I couldn't even look at him. I was just screaming. Do CPR was my first thought. [But] I wanted to get him to someone who wasn't panicking."
One man was running toward her, and that's all she could focus on: "He took him out of my arms, and I collapsed at that point."
An ambulance took him to the hospital, she said. The 6-year-old was pronounced dead at Kent Hospital, Petrarca said Sunday.
On Monday, McCartney said police had attempted to interview Jamir's mother, but she was too distraught to talk to them Sunday night.
Troy Soares said the police also asked to speak with him and his wife, but Angel Soares was too distraught and the police agreed to speak with the couple Monday. They intend to do so, he said.
By early afternoon, McCartney said the police had not yet heard from the Soares family but he hopes they contact the police to talk about the situation. Anyone interested in cooperating and providing the police with information about what happened on the beach Sunday night, McCartney said, should call Police Capt. Thomas Hannon at (401) 468-4200.
Early Monday afternoon at City Park, there were about 25 people in the water, with two lifeguards on duty blowing their whistles whenever people ventured too far from shore.
Early Monday afternoon, about 25 people were bathing in the shallows at low tide as two lifeguards sat in their chairs looking out at the water. Every so often, they blew their whistles and waved for bathers who had strayed too far out into the sheltered cove to return closer to the beach.
From a shaded grassy area at the edge of the beach, Steven Lacombe of Warwick sat on a bench also intently looking out at the water. Clothes belonging to his son, Nicholas, were piled next to him.
"I keep my eye on him," Lacombe said.
Although a regular weekday visitor at the beach, he said he hadn't heard about the tragic accident on Sunday.
"It's sad what happened," he said. Gesturing toward the lifeguards, he said, "They are constantly watching. They are doing their job," then added, "It's my responsibility to keep my eye on him. Kids don't realize how far out they are getting."
- -With reports from staff writer Rich Salit
———
©2016 The Providence Journal (Providence, R.I.)
Visit The Providence Journal (Providence, R.I.)
