The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

A 16-YEAR-OLD student drowned while swimming with friends in a canal behind South Sea Estates on Sunday, days before his 17th birthday and months before he was due to graduate.

According to his aunt, Ygonnia Blanc, when Davontae Fleurimar's mother saw his body at the morgue yesterday, she screamed: "We were so close Vontae."

Davontae, a 12th-grade student at Royal Preparatory Academy, would have turned 17 on Saturday and was set to graduate in June.

Ms Blanc said her sister had worked tirelessly and struggled to give her son the best life she could. She said Davontae loved swimming and often went to the canal, and that the family remains in shock and is still trying to process his sudden death.

Police said they received information around 4pm on Sunday that a male had gone missing while swimming in a canal at the rear of South Sea Estates, off Bacardi Road. When officers arrived, they were told four males, aged 16, 17, 17 and 19, had been swimming just south of the gated community when one of them got into difficulty in the water, allegedly because of a strong current.

One of the group tried to help him but could not. The others went for help, and police contacted the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, which deployed a vessel, drones and divers to search for him.

Around 7.30pm, after about three hours of searching, Davontae was found unresponsive about 40 yards off the southwestern shore of South Sea Estates.

Ms Blanc said she was like a second mother to Davontae and that she gave him his name. She described him as mannerly, kind and hardworking, saying that from a young age he had found after-school jobs at a grocery store and on construction sites to earn an honest living.

"Even at his young age he was done figuring his life out," she said, "and that's what make me even love him more."

His school mourned his death in a statement, sharing a photograph of his basketball jersey to reflect his love of the sport.

"As we grieve this heartbreaking loss," the school said, "we remember the laughter, the jokes, and all the special moments we shared. He will be deeply missed and forever remembered."

The school asked God to strengthen and comfort his family, friends, classmates and all those mourning him.

Asked how the family was coping, Ms Blanc became emotional.

"He only 16," she said. "He he ain't live half his life yet."