Weeks after a 24-year-old man was electrocuted and died after taking a dip in Lake Lanier, the notorious Georgia reservoir has struck again, claiming the life of 23-year-old Edgar Steven Cruz Martinez, who didn’t return to the surface after taking a swim last Saturday.
Though first responders quickly found his body and transported him to the hospital where he was pronounced dead, Martinez’s death has sparked renewed concerns about the safety of Lake Lanier, where seven others have died this year alone.
Tameka Foster, Usher’s ex-wife whose 11-year-old son Kile died in Lake Lanier back in 2012, headed to Instagram shortly after Martinez’s death, resharing a Change.org petition she launched last May demanding officials “Drain, Clean, Restore, and Improve Safety Measures at Lake Lanier.”
“Have you signed my petition yet?” Foster wrote in an Instagram story last Wednesday. “The tragedies at Lake Lanier are preventable, and the issues at the lake need to be addressed.”
But Foster is far from alone in rallying for change.
“We shouldn’t be partying on grave sites. We should respect OUR ANCESTORS. In every race,” wrote Lisa Le, who signed the petition after Martinez’s passing “It’s wrong to keep thinking these deaths are just a coincidence. Stop letting people die for money.”
“I had a friend drown on July 29, 2023- something has to be done!” added Tia Jackson, who also recently added her name to the cause. “He was an excellent swimmer- the currents are extremely violent on this Lake!”
Upwards of 200 people have died in Lake Lanier between 1996 and 2022, according to USA Today. Though the reasons behind this concerning statistic are largely unknown, several point to Lake Lanier’s high number of drunk boaters as well as its reputation as “one of America’s most haunted lakes” as to how it became such a deadly swimming spot.
So as summer comes to an end, maybe it’s better to stick with the pool.
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