Watch CBS News

Teen Dies After Being Pulled From Hialeah Lake

HIALEAH (CBS4) –

A teenage boy who drowned in a lake at McDonald's Park in Hialeah  has been identified.

The body of Marceon Butler, 15 was pulled out of the water just before noon Wednesday.

Hialeah police were called to the park, located at 7505 West 12th Avenue, after someone spotted teenagers jumping from a bridge into a lake, right next to the park's wave pool and lazy river.  Witnesses told police three teens jumped into the water but only two came up.


"In this neighborhood everybody.  It's natural.  It's not a big deal.  But he did it.  I guess he couldn't swim,' said witness Rosniel Reyes. " There is rocks down there.  There is stuff down there."

Witnesses said the Butler's friends dove under the water but couldn't help their friend.

"They tried to help him out.  But I guess they couldn't and they just left him.  They left.  They ran," said a witness.

Two Hialeah police dive teams searched the lake but couldn't find anything. Police called CBS4 to Chopper 4′s camera above the scene.

"They did search the complete lake and said it was clear," Captain Ceaser Espinosa with the Hialeah Police Department said. "They found nothing."

Moments later, one diver could be seen diving deep near a bridge and then coming up with a Butler, who was unconscious. A large number of fire rescue personnel then pulled Butler out of the water and placed him on a stretcher.

Paramedics quickly began performing CPR as he was rushed to a waiting ambulance, but it was too late to save him.

Police told CBS4 that Butler was recently suspended from school.

"I have like three classes with him.  We were really tight.  He was a really good friend," said friend Leslie Delgado. "I had heard of people doing that but I didn't know it would come to an end like this.  That somebody would die out of that."

Student Chelsea Storr remembers when he competed in a push-up contest sponsored by the school's JROTC program.

"He didn't win but his confidence and everything was really good," said Storr.

She liked Butler's attitude but still thinks he should not have jumped off that bridge.

"It's not worth it. You leave behind so many friends and family. It's sad," she said.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.