VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Zamari Wilson was taking one last dip in the water before heading back to D.C. when the unthinkable happened: The 12-year-old drowned.
His mother, now back home in D.C., spoke to our sister station, WUSA9. She told them she's still trying to wrap her mind around what happened.
An artist, an athlete, a musician and an entrepreneur -- all ways Brenda Wilson describes her youngest child.
"He wanted to be a graphic artist. He'd already started a business by the age of 12," she said with pride.
"Zamari's World" consisted of t-shirt designs, logos, mix-tape covers, you name it. The eighth-grader was also putting together his portfolio for the Duke Ellington School of the Arts.
To get away from the busy city for the Fourth of July weekend, they visited family in Virginia Beach. Wilson said they booked a hotel on the Chesapeake Bay side of the beach, along Shore Drive.
As Zamari jumped into the water once more before heading home, family members watched from the shore. She said her son loved to be in the water and was a pretty good swimmer.
Then, he slipped under the water.
"They saw his arms flailing in the water. Trying to get help... Don't know if it was a current or a rip tide or if he stepped the wrong way," his mother said.
Emergency crews searched for the boy for three and a half hours.
"I was traumatized the whole time," Wilson said.
Then, around 1:30 Saturday afternoon, they found Zamari’s body.
"I just fell apart. I fell apart at that time," she said. "That was my heart. My youngest."
Had she known there were no lifeguards in that area of the beach, Wilson said she never would have booked a hotel along Shore Drive.
"I'm still in shock. I can't sleep. I can't eat. Hopefully, it will pass," Wilson said.
According to Councilmen Guy Tower, John Moss and Rocky Holcomb, along with Virginia Beach Lifeguard Supervisor Tom Gill, there haven’t been discussions about expanding lifeguard coverage to that area.
Councilman Tower said they’ve always focused their resources on the Oceanfront because the risk factors are higher.
There are around 50 lifeguard stands along the Oceanfront from 1st Street through 89th Street.
Wilson said she wants Zamari’s death to make a difference.
"I want to start a campaign to get more lifeguards at the beach, even on private beaches," she said.
For now, the mother of three is grieving her son and what his life could have been.
"He dreamed of being able to save the family, to make enough money so we all wouldn't have to work ever again," his mother said.
Zamari was not the only one who died in the water over the holiday weekend.
Ryan Neal, 44, from Virginia Beach, also drowned later that day near the Lesner Bridge, which is not far from where crews found Zamari.