Family grieving after Louisville teen dies in Taylorsville Lake drowning

TAYLORSVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A local woman is grieving after her teenage son accidentally drowned while swimming in Taylorsville Lake on Saturday.

The Jefferson County Coroner's office says 17-year-old Damon Kirkpatrick drowned Saturday. According to a post on the Taylorsville-Spencer County Fire Protection District's Facebook page, a crew was dispatched to the scene for a water rescue at 7:49 p.m. Saturday and located Kirkpatrick in 30-35 feet of water.

His mother, Shacounda Kirkpatrick, was at work when she got the call.

"I got a phone call at about 8 at work saying that my son was missing. He went swimming with some friends, and they couldn't find him," she said. "I get another phone call saying they'd found his body in a lake.

Kirkpatrick said Damon was working to graduate from Liberty High School and had recently taken up boxing.

"He was a happy kid, but he was quiet. He kept to himself," she said. "He played video games. He was into anime a whole lot."

The sudden death has left the family struggling with expenses. They've set up a GoFundMe page to help with funeral expenses.

Damon was not an experienced swimmer, according to his mom.

"He didn't deserve it," she said. "He was a good kid. He didn't know how to swim so I don't know why he was out there so far away."

Fire Chief Nathan Nation said the area Damon was recovered from has a sudden drop off from 3-4 feet to about 30 feet.

"(His friends) said they was first in the water, they could feel the rocks," Kirkpatrick said. "And so one of them tried to swim out a little further, and I'm guessing he hit the drop point."

According to Kirkpatrick and fire department officials, Damon's friends tried to save him.

"He said he tried his hardest," Kirkpatrick said."He said, 'I held onto him as long as I could.' But he said he was going in too."

This is the second drowning at Taylorsville Lake in 2019; the first occurred May 18.

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