Family mourns 8-year-old's drowning

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - No parent is supposed to outlive their child. But that is the case for the family of an 8-year-old girl who drowned over the weekend .

Rachel Kabasele said her niece, Jannah Brown, loved to sing and make others happy.

Pictures on the family computer show the child’s infectious smile. But now, the 8-year-old’s family can only see that smile in pictures.

She drowned Saturday in a retention pond near the Bayhead Village Apartment Complex.

Police say Jannah’s shoe slipped off Saturday when she was walking near the pond. The young girl tried to get the shoe but fell into the water. Her 11-year-old sister, who was with her at the time, tried to pull her from the water but couldn’t.

“She was walking, and the pond is built right by the play area,” Kabasele said. “She didn’t realize the water was so deep and fell in.”

Signs warn residents not to swim, boat or ice skate in the man-made pond. But Brown’s family said that is not enough protection for an area full of children.

“I just want the apartments here and around the world to have protection for kids,” Kabasele said, with tears flowing down her cheek. “They make so much money that a fence doesn’t cost them nothing. If they had a wall or a fence and some kind of protection, I believe, my niece would have never drowned.”

Coupled with a barrier, Jannah’s family agree adults should take responsibility.

“Teach your children how to swim,” Kabasele said. “None of the kids knew how to swim. If they knew they could have jumped in and saved her.”

Jannah did have sisters; her aunts tell me they will be taking swimming lessons this summer.

24-Hour News 8 attempted to get a response from the Bayhead Village Apartment Complex but no one returned our calls. When we stopped by the facility at 2 p.m., no one was in the office.