Kyzr Willis's did not drown in the water off Carson Beach last summer because of any malicious action, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office says.
An boy somebody claimed to have seen with "an unknown adult male" was not Kyzr, 7, whose body was found on July 26, several hours after he was reported missing from a BCYF summer camp at the beach.
In a statement, DA Dan Conley summarized his office's investigation and findings:
The investigation, which included analysis of interviews conducted by Boston Police homicide detectives and follow-up interviews by District C-6 detectives and Suffolk prosecutors, did not yield evidence that any person deliberately or recklessly caused the child’s death. Prosecutors’ findings are consistent with those of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, which last year ruled his death an accidental drowning.
The evidence established that Kyzr Willis and two young family members signed in at the Boston Center for Youth and Families Summer Youth Activities Program on the morning of July 26 and were among 56 children supervised by about 30 staff members who ranged from high school age through adulthood. At about 1:30 pm, one staffer reported, Kyzr was seen in the program’s Teen Center and was directed outside to the beach in front of the Curley Community Center. Staff reported last seeing Kyzr coming out of the water between 1:30 and 2:00. He was wearing a bright yellow bathing suit and a distinctive bright orange swim-shirt.
Between 2:15 and 2:30, lifeguards began the process of calling children out of the water At some time between 2:15 and 2:40, the first staff member reported that Kyzr Willis was missing. Lifeguards immediately began their water search protocol, and the program’s administrative coordinator called 911 at 2:49 pm. Harbor Patrol officers using a remotely-operated, camera-mounted vehicle located the child’s body in about 9 feet of water a short distance west of the breakwater between the K and L street beaches.
According to lifeguards, the tide coming in – as it was on the afternoon of July 26 – not only raises the water level in the area significantly but also makes it more difficult to swim. These facts, in conjunction with the absence of physical trauma, strongly suggest that the child made his way back into the water unbeknownst to staffers, was unable to stay afloat, and drowned.
Conley handed over his office's research to Willis's family in a meeting before releasing his statement.