Boy, 17, Dies After Being Pulled from Lake Michigan

A teenager died Friday evening after he was pulled from Lake Michigan on the South Side, where he was celebrating at a family party, authorities said.

Chicago Fire Department divers found the 17-year-old at about 8 p.m. and pulled him from the water near 31st Street Beach, according to police and Fire Media Affairs.

Emergency crews had been called for a swimmer in distress, according to police.

eddie horns
Andrew Holmes

The teen was swimming with his uncle from the pier back to the shore when he began to struggle, his family said. He went under the water for about five minutes before he was rescued.

The boy was taken to Mercy Hospital and Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office identified the teen as Eddie Horns of the 2900 block of South Federal in Chicago.

Horns' family said he was going to be a senior at Dunbar Vocational High School, where he was a football player.

Horns' sobbing mother warned other parents to take her son's death as a beach safety lesson during a press conference Saturday.

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