Teenager Who Drowned in Trinity River Identified

The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office has identified the woman who drowned in the Trinity River near Trinity Park on Wednesday.

The office's website says Brandy Johnson, 19, drown after falling off the low level dam in the river at around 2 p.m. on Wednesday.

Johnson is the third person to drown in the river in the park in the last three years.

"That's very sad, at any age that would be sad," said Wini Ayers, a Fort Worth resident and park goer.

For those in Trinity Park on Thursday there was no disagreement that what happened on Wednesday was a tragedy, but whether anything could be done to prevent future incidents was up for debate.

The Tarrant Regional Water District won't discuss the drowning incidents, but says it serves as a warning.

"Unfortunately accidents like this are always a reminder to the rest of us to the inherit dangers associated with water," TRWD spokesman Chad Lorance said. "It could be your backyard pool, a lake, another river."

Lorance says people should visit the river, but be careful when near it.

"There's not lifeguards up and down the river, it's a community river," Lorance said. "We encourage people to come down here and enjoy it but we do want them to just be aware of their surroundings and there are dangers associated with the water."

The district does have signs warning people not to cross the low level dam.

"I would think they would need more signs really," Ayers said.

But more or larger signs or some other deterrent aren't likely. TRWD says the Army Corps of Engineers has strict guidelines preventing signs or other obstacles from being placed in the river and flood channels to prevent obstructions during floods. That is why there are warning signs mounted to the rocks.

"We have the Phyllis Tilley bridge right down behind us here," Lorance said. "There are different ways to cross the river."