“They ain’t saying nothing” – mother on silence of persons on swimming trip

Drowned Linden teen

A post-mortem examination conducted on the body of 15-year-old Wisburg Secondary School student Trevon Atkins, whose body was pulled from a blue lake in Linden on Sunday, has given the cause of death as drowning.
The examination was performed by Government Pathologist, Dr Nehaul Singh at the Georgetown Public Hospital Mortuary on Monday. The body has since been handed over to relatives for burial.
The body of the teen, who resided at Lot 121 Prosville, Wismar, Linden, was retrieved from the blue lake situated at Wisroc, Wismar, at about 11:00h on Sunday, a day after he went missing while swimming with friends at the location. Atkins went to the area to swim with his 17-year-old sister and others, but did not resurface after going into the lake sometime around 17:30h on Saturday.
According to Police, the teen left his home at approximately 16:30h with his sister and other relatives to swim, and while in the water he encountered difficulties and subsequently submerged. Police said a relative who observed when the teen submerged made efforts to rescue him but was unsuccessful. Residents who formed a search party at the location were successful in recovering the teen’s body which was pulled from the lake with a rope.
Police have since launched an investigation into the incident.
Meanwhile, the teen’s grieving mother, 46-year-old Sandra Reynolds, has described him as a “very willing” and “quiet” person. Atkins is survived by eight other siblings. According to Reynolds, who is a single mother, details of the accident are still sketchy but she noted that her son was taken to the lake by a neighbour, who picked him up from his home earlier that fateful day. She told this publication that the deceased and his sister, accompanied by a neighbour and about five others, ventured to the location to swim, however, she said those who were present have not related the details to her.
“They ain’t saying nothing”, Reynolds said as she expressed hope that investigators would question those who were present in the fateful day individually. The teen’s mother said while he reportedly went underwater without resurfacing at around 17:30h, she was only informed of the incident about two hours later. Another relative told this publication that it is suspected that the teen tried saving his sister, who reportedly almost drowned, when he went underwater.
Recalling the string of events on Saturday, Reynolds said she was going to pick coconuts to sell early in the morning and she asked her son to come along with her, to which he refused.
“Then a neighbour call he to go and cut wood…then they carry he to the blue lake,” she noted.
Reynolds recalled that her son left his home at around 07:00h. She recalled that she saw him hours later as he passed in the company of friends presumably to go and cut wood at a location at Wismar. Police are investigating.