Tuesday, July 11

7/11 [5 Children Drown In St. louis, Mynista Concert Cancelled]

From all of us in the Warria Records Family, we send our deepest condolences and our sincerest prayers to the families of the children who lost their lives this weekend. This unexpected tragedy has shaken all of us, and the Mynista concert that was scheduled for Tuesday, July 11th at the St. Louis Dream Center has been canceled. We ask that you would pray for everyone affected by this accident.

Mynista and the Warria Records Staff.


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http://www.stltoday.com
Five children drown in Meramec River
By Bill Bryan
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
07/10/2006

Five children ages 10-17 drowned Sunday evening in the Meramec River during a church group outing at Castlewood State Park in southwest St. Louis County , authorities confirmed today. One of them apparently drowned trying to save his siblings; none of them knew how to swim.

Police said four of the victims had the same mother -- Bryant Barnes, 10, Dana Johnson, 13, Ryan Mason, 14 and Damon Johnson, 17, all of the 4800 block of Margaretta Avenue. The fifth victim is Deandra, 16, of the 4800 block of Anderson Avenue. Dana Johnson is the only girl among the fatalities.

Damon Johnson died at a hospital overnight; the bodies of the others were recovered from the river.



A sixth child pulled from the water was hospitalized.

The victims were members of the St. Louis Dream Center, an organization created by the Joyce Meyers Ministries and located at Margaretta and Natural Bridge Avenues in St. Louis. The mother of the four related children was identified as Edris Moore, 36, who had been a volunteer at the church before being hired recently to work in its kitchen. She had eight children and the family was heavily involved in the church, sources said.

She told the Post-Dispatch today that six of her eight children were on the trip and none of them knew how to swim. "It was not a swimming thing they were going after," Moore said.

She said Damon Johnson, the oldest, drowned when he went into the water trying to save others.

Asked what her surviving children thought of the ones who drowned, Moore said:

"They know their brothers and sisters are in heaven... I know I'll see them again."

Jeff Allensworth, pastor at the Dream Center, said of the tragic outing:

"Let me say this is one of the most horrendous things a church family, any family, would have to go through. I just ask that as we sort through this and minister to the families, you all pray for us."

He said they were still trying to determine exactly what happened.

Saying he was "deeply grieved" by the drownings, Allensworth added: "We did everything that could be done.... It was not a dangerous situation."

About 50 children from the group were playing on the sandy beach and wading in the river near the park’s boat ramp when the drownings happened about 6:30 p.m., authorities said,

Parts of the river are shallow enough to walk in, but the bodies were found in water eight to 12 feet deep. Witnesses said one of the children got into trouble in the water, and several others tried to save him, but all went under. County police could not confirm the witness account.

Two youngsters were pulled from the water within minutes, and one of them died later at a hospital. The Missouri State Water patrol dragged the river from 8:00 p.m. Sunday until 6:00 a.m. Monday, recovering four other bodies in 8 to 12 feet of water said Lou Amighetti, a spokesman for the Water Patrol.

The bodies were about 200 yards downstream from a sandy beach where the group likely entered the water. Athletic shoes, water bottles and a breathing mask with instructions were seen on the beach. The water at the beach area was calm this morning, though a swift current ran further down the waterway.

It was unknown if any of the children knew how to swim; none was wearing a lifejacket. Lifejackets are not mandated for non-boaters, authorities said.

“We’re really not sure what happened,” Amighetti, said. “Maybe the kids were caught off guard.”

Amighetti said the section of the river where the drownings occurred is not considered dangerous, "but you have to take precautions.”

"It was just depressing. It was horrible," said Tracy Panus, a spokeswoman for St. Louis County police. "You have a church group out there for a good reason, a good cause. No one is out there drinking or getting stoned, and a tragedy can happen just like that. It's kids and it's tragic."

Rescue workers were hampered by inconsistent reports about how many children were attending the event and how many were missing, Panus said.

Richard Love, the park superintendent, said Castlewood is visited by 3,500,000 people a year, and that drownings are rare.

“We are probably known more for our mountain bicycling and hiking, but a lot of people use the river,” Love said.

Love said he could remember only three drownings in15 years in the park before Sunday.

People had placed balloons and Teddy bears in front of the church today. Reporters and others were being kept off the property of the church.

Leon McNichols, the grandfather of the four siblings, said he was told Damon Johnson jumped into the water and saved the child who survived, but that he drowned along with the others who were trying to help. He called Damon "his hero" and said all the children were "good kids."

"They're the kind of children in this day and age you want to hear about," McNichols said. "They're children of faith -- children with a strong faith and intelligence."

Neighbor Clister Ingrum, who has lived in the tidy, tree-lined neighborhood of brick bungalows for 50 years, said he was especially sorry for the parents.

"The parents are the ones who are suffering," Ingrum said.

The Dream Center's Web site describes it as "an inner-city church with a heart to reach out, bringing hope and healing place to a hurting world." It was started in 2000, based on the Los Angeles Dream Center, to be a multiracial, interdenominational church offering social services including a teen drop-in center and programs for the homeless.

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The Associated Press contributed information for this story.

http://www.stltoday.com



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