VIRGINIA BEACH, Va - A mother is advocating for lifeguards to be staffed at a section in Virginia Beach right off of Shore Drive after her 12-year-old son, Zamari Wilson, drowned. The mother said the drowning could have been prevented.
"We are petitioning for lifeguards to be mandatory there, and for warning signs to be up there," Brenda Eason Wilson, Zamari's mother said.
Brenda Eason Wilson said she and her family took a vacation and stayed at the Delta Marriott Hotel in Virginia Beach over the July 4 Holiday weekend in 2022.
News
Red flags warning beachgoers at start of Labor Day weekend in Virginia Beach
She said in the final hours of their vacation, Zamari went swimming in the beach but did not return. The 12-year-old was swept under the water while swimming off the private beach near Shore Drive.
She believes Zamari would still be alive had the hotel required lifeguards.
"I went there with my son and came home without him," Eason Wilson said. "So it has to be changed."
Lifeguards are not required or mandated in private areas or private properties such as hotels.
Wilson said she got this response from the Delta Marriott Hotel:
"It’s not mandatory for them to have it, and we should assume the risk since we’re at an ocean," Eason Wilson said.
Eason Wilson started a petition to make it mandatory to have lifeguards at private properties. Her attorney said they are working with state lawmakers to ensure no other families have to go through what she went through. Wilson is also raising money to have a grave site marker for Zamari.
"In this particular case, the hotel had signs at the pool," Yaida Ford, Brenda Eason Wilson's attorney said. "But they didn’t have any warning signs at the ocean. When you go to resorts, usually you’ll see indicators in the water that say ‘don’t come here’ or ‘there’s a drop-off in the water.’ This hotel didn’t do that."
News 3 reached out to the Delta Marriott Hotel to get a comment, but they did not respond by our deadline.
