Roxbury woman drowns in Jamaica Pond
As her child looked on, a 41-year-old woman from Roxbury drowned in Jamaica Pond yesterday after she swam into the deep water to cool off, police said.
The woman, who was not identified pending family notification, had gone fully clothed into the pond as her boyfriend and son of 6 or 7 watched her from the shore, said Superintendent John Gallagher.
Her boyfriend left the park briefly to fetch something from the car. When he returned, she was gone from the surface, Gallagher said.
The boyfriend, a 63-year-old Roxbury man, called 911 from his cellphone. About 7 p.m., firefighters rushed into the water and found her unconscious in about 5 feet of water 50 feet from the shore. She was pronounced dead about 7:30 p.m. at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Gallagher said.
Swimming is forbidden at the pond, which is fed by natural springs and is 53 feet deep near the center. Yesterday, police interviewed the boyfriend as the boy stood a few feet away from the adults, kicking the ground and fidgeting.
"I don't think he really understands what happened," Gallagher said, looking at the boy. "I can't remember the last time something like this happened here."
Denise Monteiro, spokeswoman for the state Department of Social Services, said the boy was taken to Children's Hospital to see a trauma specialist. DSS officials were trying to find relatives to notify them of the drowning and find someone to take the boy.
In July 2005, a man became the first person to drown in Jamaica Pond in 15 years.
About 6:30 one morning, a walker spotted the victim thrashing in the water and yelling for help. A dive team recovered the body about an hour later in 21 feet of water.
The pond is popular among fishermen, boaters, and sailors. The last death in the pond prior to that occurred in 1990, when a 34-year-old Jamaica Plain man drowned because of an unknown physical problem.
Globe Correspondent Sean Greene contributed to this report. 