A Dallas woman died early Tuesday morning in Chicago after she fell into the frigid Chicago River.
Keisha Garnett, 30, traveled with work friends from Dallas to New York. On their way back to Dallas, they stopped in Chicago to rest.
Garnett and her friend went walking near their downtown hotel when she somehow fell into the icy water.
NBC Chicago reports that a witness saw Garnett’s friend holding onto the woman’s arms, trying to help her out. She had to let go to run and get help.
Garnett went underwater.
Chicago firefighters rushed to the scene, but had to search for Garnett under sheets of ice. When they pulled her out, it was too late.
Doctors told NBC Chicago that water near the freezing point can quickly make a body tired, causing them to sink.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Garnett was the only girl in a family with three boys. Her oldest brother, Jeremy Garnett was shocked to hear of her death.
“I’m having a hard time coping with it. It was hard to believe that she’s gone,” Jeremy Garnett said from his Oak Cliff home. “Only sister I got. She’s my everything, man. She’s my baby.”
Jeremy Garnett said the family moved to the US from Belize when Keisha was a child. Jeremy said she loved playing dominos and cards with her family.
“She was sweet. She was like, a real nice person. She had a big heart,” Jeremy Garnett said.
The family is working to get her body returned to Dallas for a burial. They’ve set up a fund to help pay for the funeral.
