Alameda Boy Drowns in Antioch Canal

By Bay City News

A 12-year-old boy who drowned in an Antioch canal over the holiday weekend was visiting a friend whom he had gone to school with in Alameda, a school employee said.

The Contra Costa County coroner's office identified the boy as Jumai Caldwell of Alameda.

Jumai's body was found Saturday afternoon about two hours after he fell into the Contra Costa County Water District canal about a half-mile from Wild Horse Road and Hillcrest Avenue, according to fire officials.

Jumai, a sixth-grader at Alameda's Wood Middle School, was with his twin brother, who witnessed him falling into the fast-moving water, a school office manager said.

The twin came to school for a few hours this morning before his mother picked him up, the manager said.

Jumai, raised by his single mother, also has a younger brother who attends elementary school in Alameda and a baby sister, the office manager said.

The family was in Antioch visiting a former classmate who had since moved to the Antioch area, the manager said.

The school is holding a bake sale and other fundraisers to collect money for the mother who wants to have a ceremony for her son, who will be cremated, the office manager said.

Any donations can be dropped off at the school located at 420 Grand St.

The canal, where Jumai was found drowned after firefighters, police and water district personnel searched for two hours, is about 18 feet wide and about 10 feet deep with steep sloping sides and is fenced in. The current moves between 9 and 12 mph.

Fire officials said someone who had been with Jumai had jumped in to try to save him, but realized the water was moving too quickly and got out and called for help.

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