A preferred Chicago hairstylist died tragically on Saturday, June 21, after falling from a ship throughout a weekend journey with pals amid the town’s warmth wave.
Supply: Instagram / Instagram
Including a surprising layer to the heartbreaking loss, the sufferer, 27-year-old Zahrie Partitions, was reportedly an in depth pal of 19-year-old Kenneka Jenkins, who was discovered lifeless in a lodge freezer in 2017.
In response to the Chicago Solar-Occasions, on Saturday afternoon, Partitions and her pals have been on the Playpen, a well-liked boating spot close to Navy Pier, when she fell out of the boat, which seemingly occurred as a result of the water wasn’t secure, based on the Chicago Fireplace Division and Partitions’ mom, Kizzy Wells.
“Anyone can lose a battle with Lake Michigan,” Wells advised the Solar-Occasions. “These currents don’t play truthful.”
“I felt in my coronary heart that one thing wasn’t proper,” Wells stated of the day her daughter died. “I knew one thing wasn’t proper.”
From the Solar-Occasions:
The warmth wave introduced mid-90-degree temperatures to the town and warmth indices that pushed previous 100, based on the Nationwide Climate Service. The warmth despatched many to Lake Michigan to chill down, however the water was not essentially as secure as it could have appeared, Chicago Fireplace Division spokesman Larry Langford stated.
“You don’t know what the lake has ready for you,” he stated. “It might look calm, however underneath the floor by just a few toes, it might be churning.”
Partitions was discovered unresponsive within the water close to Navy Pier on Saturday round 5:15 p.m., based on police. She was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the place she was pronounced lifeless, based on the Prepare dinner County Medical Examiner’s workplace.
In reality, Partitions, a well known hairstylist within the metropolis who owned Z the Stylist Suites in Chicago Garden, was certainly one of two suspected drownings within the space over the weekend.
On Monday, June 23, firefighters resumed their seek for a lacking boater close to 63rd Road Seaside, who additionally reportedly fell from their boat Saturday. A number of individuals on social media are alleging that Zahrie was collaborating in Black Yacht Weekend, a “floating competition” drawing hundreds to the Windy Metropolis for Juneteenth weekend.
Zahrie’s pal, Armani Valdez, advised Block Membership Chicago that whereas her pal’s boat was not formally a part of the occasion, it was why she had gone boating along with her pals.
Block Membership Chicago famous that Black Yacht Weekend organizers stated in a since-deleted Instagram publish that they have been “heartbroken” by a dying within the lake and urged contributors to put on life jackets and never overcrowd boats.
“Whereas the incident didn’t happen throughout the Black Yacht Weekend occasion space and has not been formally linked to any of our attendees, our hearts are with the person’s household and family members throughout this tough time,” organizers stated. “We stay dedicated to celebrating Black pleasure safely and responsibly.”
Zahrie Partitions’ Mother Explains Her Late Daughter’s Kenneka Jenkins Connection
Wells advised reporters that her daughter, who had over 76,000 social media followers, was finest pals with Kenneka Jenkins, the 19-year-old discovered frozen to dying in a lodge freezer on the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare on Sept. 10, 2017. Her reason behind dying is underneath still-unclear circumstances.
Supply: GoFundMe / GoFundMe
In response to the grieving mother, the ladies went to highschool collectively and Zahrie tributed her late pal with a tattoo.
“Kenneka was her individual to strive completely different hairstyles on when she was simply studying,” Wells stated to the Chicago Tribune. “She by no means healed (from her dying). She has her title tattooed on her higher shoulder.”
She additionally stated her daughter had shoppers that included quite a few celebrities and influencers, and that she spent a lot of her time at work.
“Her complete focus was to handle her household,” Wells stated. “She was simply so mature from such a younger age.”
“She would encourage others even when she was not feeling her finest,” she continued. “Our telephone calls at all times ended with ‘I like you.’”
Partitions’ dying comes practically eight years after that of Kenneka Jenkins. In December 2023, Jenkins’ household was awarded $6.4 million in a wrongful dying lawsuit filed in opposition to the lodge.
