'My son died a hero': Teen who drowned Saturday remembered in lakeside vigil

Argus Leader

Shawn Briggs loved water. So when he asked 22-year-old Melvin Cole to go kayaking with him on Saturday, Cole agreed. The two Sioux Falls friends borrowed some kayaks and headed to Covell Lake.

At first, they were having fun, Cole said, splashing and racing each other. But they began to tire, and their kayaks capsized, ending in both young men falling into the water. Soon, Cole couldn't feel the bottom of the lake.

"It was deeper than what I thought," Cole said. "I panicked."

Briggs tried to rescue his friend, Cole said, but both struggled in the water before lifeguards from the nearby Terrace Park pool responded to their calls for help.

Cole was pulled safely from the water. Briggs was not so lucky.

Police say divers searched for hours before they recovered 17-year-old Briggs' body.

"They just couldn't get to him in time," Cole said.

On Monday, dozens of Briggs' friends and family, many of them teenagers, gathered by the lakeside for an afternoon vigil. Through tears, they shared memories of Briggs, reflecting on his wide smile and positive attitude. He had finished his GED in North Dakota and wanted to be a diesel mechanic.

"He was always kind, and thought about others first," said Briggs' girlfriend, 16-year-old Kalie Stinnett.

Melvin Cole, 22, far left, recalls memories of Shawn Briggs to family and friends gathered for a candlelight vigil Monday in the 17-year-old's memory. Briggs drowned in Covell Lake Saturday while he and Cole were kayaking.

Several held roses, which they tossed into the water where Briggs died. His mother, Michelle Fox, wept as she spoke to the group gathered by the shore.

"(It's) a pain I can't even begin to explain," Fox said. "I'm just broken."

But Fox said she does not blame anyone for her son's death, and said she is proud that he tried to save his friend.

"It was an accident," she said. "My son died a hero."

Fox plans to hold a funeral for Briggs in Sioux Falls and is raising money through GoFundMe to bring his body back to Lafayette, Louisiana, where the family is originally from. After his death, she is not sure if she can bear to stay in Sioux Falls.

"I don't want to bury him here if he's going to be all alone," Fox said. "I want to bring him home."