North Fort Myers death investigation at site where a child was pulled from pond

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is conducting a death investigation in North Fort Myers, where firefighters pulled a body out of a retention pond, the night before.

Neighbors set up a memorial Monday for the deceased, who based on signs at the memorial is named Derrick. A neighbor told WINK News he knew Derrick.

WINK News spoke with James Clement, a North Fort Myers resident found praying by the pond. He said he lives in the area.

“Two kids were playing, were running around yesterday and playing in the pond, and I heard that one of them drowned,” he said. “I live right next to the church where they hang out, and it just hurt me, man,” he said.

Clement described the boy as always kind to him.

“It really hurts me. It touches my heart, man,” he said. “What happened was close to home, and it just– it’s sad that they don’t have a fence or nothing around here to keep the kids safe. You know what, what would happen if it was your kid? You know? I don’t know what I would do or how I would react, but I know it’d be sad.”

He said the boy got to the pond through a broken spot in the fence.

According to the LCSO, the death investigation began Sunday evening, shortly before 5:30 p.m., on McNeill Road.

LCSO and North Fort Myers Fire Rescue responded, and divers helped recover the body.

Authorities said the pond is more profound than it looks, dropping between 20 and 30 feet in some places.