An 11-year-old girl who drowned in a Springdale drainage pond is mourned by heartbroken family and friends.
Aaluah Jerwon crawled through several fences with her brother and some friends to get to the pond near 401 Sisters Ave.
She was running around having fun with three other children Saturday. They'd been singing and dancing and playing the piano at a neighbor's house before they left to go swimming at the pond not far away.
The pond is in the area of 401 Sisters Ave.
"She started having trouble and just began yelling for help," Springdale police Lt. Kevin Lewis said. "So they immediately ran back to the area of 401 Sisters and called the police."
The call came in about 12:15 p.m. Authorities arrived and pulled the child out of the pond by 12:38 p.m. and tried CPR. But it was too late.
Now Aaluah's friends and family are left to grieve a life lost too soon.
"I talked to her dad and he was just...he really just seems like he just can't believe it," said Fernando Gutierrez, a neighbor. "So I just don't think it has hit him yet."
"She was still a baby you know what I mean, 11 years old. And it's just you know it's unbelievable really. You know and I don't understand it too much. I mean, just let it be a lesson you know what I mean, it could have happened to any one of us."
Her playmate Neibin Laibij can't believe she's gone.
"She was one of my best friends that I would always play with," the child told 5NEWS.
Neibin said Aaluah's family was getting ready to move, and so the two friends played together Friday night. Aaluah wrote Neibin a goodbye note that Neibin will cherish forever.
"Forever - no matter what - you too Neibin. Well I loved this summer, and just in case we never see each other again...Well this is my note to you and Neibin. I love you and we'll see yall little baby that's why you in this note. Love you," the note says.
Aaluah's family members were too upset to speak to 5NEWS.
