Zahrie Walls went boating with friends Saturday afternoon in the Playpen, a popular boating spot near Navy Pier, to make the most of the summer’s first heat wave, her mother said.
But then something went wrong and Walls, a 27-year-old hairstylist, fell from the boat. When she was pulled out, she wasn’t breathing and died soon after, authorities said.
Walls was among two likely drownings over the weekend, during which the Chicago Fire Department says it responded to 90 calls of heat- and water-related distress.
“Anybody can lose a battle with Lake Michigan,” Kizzy Wells, Walls’ mother, told the Chicago Sun-Times. “Those currents don’t play fair.”
Meanwhile, police were resuming a search Monday for a missing boater near 63rd Street Beach, who also went down in the water Saturday afternoon.
The heat wave brought mid-90-degree temperatures to the city and heat indices that pushed past 100, according to the National Weather Service. The heat sent many to Lake Michigan to cool down, but the water was not necessarily as safe as it may have appeared, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said.
“You don’t know what the lake has waiting for you,” he said. “It can look calm, but under the surface by a few feet, it could be churning.”
Walls was found unresponsive in the water near Navy Pier Saturday around 5:15 p.m., according to police. She was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.
Walls was a well-known hairstylist that had worked with celebrities and influencers, her mother said. She spent most of her time working and was close with her family, especially her mom, her 5-year-old goddaughter and her younger sister, Tia.
“Her whole focus was to take care of her family,” Wells said. “She was just so mature from such a young age.”
Walls grew up in North Lawndale and was close friends with Kenneka Jenkins, the 19-year-old who was found dead in a freezer in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Rosemont in 2017, Wells said.
Walls was invited on a boat by a friend who rented it, Wells said. She got a call from Walls’ friend saying she was rescued from the water and taken to the hospital.
“I felt in my heart that something wasn’t right,” Wells said. “I knew something wasn’t right.”
She said Walls had a “humble spirit” and didn’t hold grudges.
“She would encourage others even when she was not feeling her best,” Wells said. “Our phone calls always ended with ‘I love you.’”
The apparent drowning took place during Black Yacht Weekend, but the group said in an Instagram statement that it wasn’t in the event area or connected to any of the event’s attendees.
Chicago police said their marine unit would resume a search Monday for another boater near 63rd Street Beach earlier Saturday afternoon.
Two people were reported in distress in the water when they were swimming off of a pontoon boat near the beach, according to Langford. One person was able to reach the shore, but the other person hasn’t been found as of Monday morning.
Several others were also injured in boating accidents, Langford said. A 27-year-old man was caught between two boats that collided in the Playpen, a popular party spot for boaters between Oak Street and Ohio Street Beaches that has seen several high-profile accidents in the past few years. The man’s foot was partially amputated from the accident, Langford said.
Langford warned against drinking while on boats and swimming in the Playpen because the boats are close together and alcohol lowers a person’s inhibitions and reflexes.
“Drinking and being on boats is a problem,” he said. “Operators, of course, aren’t supposed to drink anything at all. You end up in the water, the boats are in close proximity, you get minor collisions that can turn into major injuries.”
In August 2022, a woman lost both her legs after she was caught in a yacht’s propeller during an accident in the Playpen. That same month, three drownings were reported in two days.
The fire department responded to a number of other calls that didn’t result in injuries this weekend, Langford said. He advised not swimming alone and reminded people that Chicago Park District pools are open for the summer. At least one of this weekend’s calls involved people on a Jet Ski who needed assistance getting back to shore. He advised people always wear a life jacket when on a Jet Ski.
“Some people don’t do it, with tragic results,” Langford said. “If you fall off and you have a life jacket, at least you’re floating until somebody can come get you.”