Fort Worth Boy Dies Sneaking Into Private Pool, Impaled By Iron Fence

An 11-year-old-boy has died after an attempt to sneak into a private pool at an apartment complex in Fort Worth, Texas.

Police say no criminal charges are forthcoming as the death seems to have been a terrible accident according to Officer Bradley Perz with the Fort Worth Police. He spoke to the Star-Telegram earlier this week.

The boy was with several friends who tried to climb the fence at Ladera Palms Apartments in Fort Worth in an attempt to gain access to the swimming pool which had been locked up for the night. When the group of kids was discovered by a security guard they made a break for the fence and attempted to climb a tree to get out of the fenced in area. The 11-year-old who died has been identified as Jean Pierre Mwenge, lost his footing as he climbed the tree and fell. He was impaled by the fence.

The security fence is being described as a 6-foot-tall security fence with spikes on the top. When police arrived on scene they found the gate to the fence had been smashed down and was floating in the pool.

The boy was a 5th-grade student at Clifford Davis Elementary in Fort Worth. Jean Pierre had previously won a student of the year honor.

There is a city ordinance in Fort Worth that says apartment complexes with pools must be completely enclosed by a fence that is at least 4 feet high. Chain link is not allowed for pool yards. In 1994 the ordinance was updated to reflect that no permanent structure is allowed to be built near a pool yard fence that might allow someone to use said structure to climb over a fence that surrounds a pool at an apartment complex.