Clifford Davis Elementary student dies, impaled by iron fence at apartment pool
An 11-year-old boy who died after being accidentally impaled on an iron fence has been identified as Jean Pierre Mwenge of Fort Worth, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner’s website.
Jean died at a hospital at 8:05 p.m. Monday after suffering the injury at an apartment complex in southeast Fort Worth, police said. A ruling on his death is pending an autopsy.
The boy was in the fifth grade at Clifford Davis Elementary, according to Fort Worth school records.
Counselors were at the school Tuesday for students, faculty and staff members, said Clint Bond, a Fort Worth school district spokesman, in an email.
Vanessa Conover, the cafeteria manager at the school, said Jean “was very bright and was the student of the year.”
“This breaks my heart because I live across the street in the town houses,” she said. “So this hits close to home.”
Police responded to a report of an injured person shortly after 7 p.m. Monday.
Officers say that several children climbed a fence at Ladera Palms Apartments, in the 2300 block of Baroque Drive in southeast Fort Worth, to get into a locked swimming pool area.
When they were told to leave by security, the children scattered by trying to climb a fence.
Jean possibly lost his footing and was accidentally impaled by the iron fence, Officer Bradley Perez said.
Police did not release any other information on the incident.
Officials at Ladera Palms declined to comment Tuesday. The apartment complex is a gated community with a guardhouse and security cameras.
This story was originally published May 7, 2019 at 9:11 AM with the headline "Clifford Davis Elementary student dies, impaled by iron fence at apartment pool."
