Teen dies in Saugus, in second drowning in state since Saturday
By Jillian Jorgensen, Globe Correspondent
A 16-year-old girl out swimming with friends drowned today in Saugus, the second person to die in the state since Saturday in what appear to be water-related accidents, officials said.
Shanequa McKennzie, of Hanover Circle in Lynn, drowned at the Breakheart Reservation, according to Karen Dawley, a spokeswoman for the Essex District Attorney’s Office.
McKennzie, a student at Lynn Vocational Technical Institute, drowned about 12:30 p.m., said Dawley, who did not have immediate details on how the girl drowned, what part of the park she drowned in, or if lifeguards were present. Park rangers were there, she said.
McKennzie was pulled from the water and taken to Melrose-Wakefield Hospital, where she was pronounced dead about 2:50 p.m., Dawley said.
“It appears to be a swimming accident, an accidental drowning,” Dawley said.
The Department of Conservation and Recreation, which oversees the reservation, referred calls for comment to State Police.
On Saturday, a New Hampshire man drowned while trying to swim across Patridgeville Pond in Templeton. Templeton Police Chief David Whitaker said 20-year-old Ryan Frazier of Swanzey was at an event at the Templeton Fish and Gun Club when he failed to surface.
A friend, Thomas Loll of Marlborough, N.H., said when Frazier was about halfway across, he turned around, began to struggle and went under. Three others at the event dove in, found Frazier on the bottom and pulled him to the beach, Loll said.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
