Two dead in apparent drowning in South Bend

SOUTH BEND — Authorities said a couple drowned in a pool at a South Bend apartment complex Friday after a man started to struggle in the water and his girlfriend jumped in to help him.

South Bend police said first responders were called to Park Jefferson Apartments, 3001 E. Jefferson Boulevard, shortly after 11 a.m. on a report of two people who apparently drowned in the indoor pool at the complex.

Jeannie Martin, 18, and Keontaye Watson, 19, were found dead. Their deaths were ruled accidental drownings.

St. Joseph County Coroner Randy Magdalinski said authorities had not uncovered anything suspicious about the deaths. It appeared Martin jumped in after Watson went into the water and started thrashing.

"It seems to be totally accidental," Magdalinski said. "Basically, from the way it appears, he was in the pool and for some unknown reason started thrashing around, and she went in after him and unfortunately they both drowned."

Capt. Phil Trent, a South Bend police spokesman, said the pair arrived together, and Watson went directly to the pool while Martin went to exercise on a treadmill in a nearby fitness room.

Martin was facing a mirror and could see Watson playing in the shallow end of the pool, but he soon moved to the deep end and began to struggle, Trent said. That’s when Martin jumped off the treadmill, leaving it running, and dived into the pool.

"Unfortunately, he's grabbing her, she’s grabbing him, and they both end up underwater," Trent said.

City police Lt. Gene Eyster said police reviewed surveillance camera footage to piece together exactly how the drownings happened.

Eyster said the victims were spotted and pulled from the pool by apartment complex employees and a resident who was at the Park Jefferson offices. Neither victim showed any sign of life when emergency responders arrived on scene, he said.

Trent said no one witnessed the drownings, and about 20 minutes passed before another resident arrived and found the couple’s bodies.

Most Park Jefferson residents and staff have access to the pool, police said. Watson lived at the complex, but Martin had an address listed elsewhere, Trent said.

The same pool was the site of a drowning in 2001, when a 45-year-old woman was found dead. At the time, police said Park Jefferson required residents to sign in and leave a pool pass at the front desk before going for a swim.

The Tribune left a request for comment from the Park Jefferson staff through an operator with an offsite answering service Friday afternoon. The Park Jefferson website lists a "large indoor heated pool which is open year round" among its amenities.