Family, friends mourn drowning victim

There's a lot of information here tonight:

Fairfield:
Good swimming-no drugs.

Bridgeport:
Good drugs- no swimming,
Oh yeah, the ho's too.

Sad wrote:

This tragedy could have been avoided if the mother was doing her job and made sure her son was home at a reasonable hour and not out swimming at 12:30 at night. Nothing good comes to kids who are out that late at night. why are parents so afraid to parent? what ever happended to curfews? he was a minor.

Sad...You CANNOT talk like that. Moms and Dads are only humans. You may think you know where your kids are...you can make their life miserable and make them stay home and have total control of them...but sometimes you have to let go a little. He was 17...not a baby. Please, just steer your anger and bitter comments towards the peace and comfort this family needs. This is a mother and fathers worse nightmare. God bless their soul. Please..pray for them.

What an obnoxious, ultra conservative comment to make about "Trespassing" having anything to do with this person's death, or any other incidents that have happened or will happen on that lake.
There's a little thing called "personal responsibility." The kids who were there should have been responsible for staying with their friend; the victim should have been responsible for being at a lake at night and not knowing how to swim; a THOUSAND people should have been responsible for doing things that might have prevented this accident.
But responding to incidents like these by saying it was "Trespassing" makes me sad about our country's future. We burden ourselves with limitations to our freedom on an increasingly frequent basis. Let's stop creating social and geographical constraints after every failure of personal liability, and start teaching each other how to enjoy life safely.

I cannot believe what I am reading from a few of you ignorant, heartless people! JUST BECAUSE TEENAGERS TRESPASS ON PRIVATE PROPERTY TO GO SWIMMING DOES NOT MEAN THEY DESERVE TO DIE!
HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF THIS BOY WAS YOUR SON? HOW CALLOUS CAN PEOPLE BE?
you talk about taxpayers money when a mother just lost her child! How dare you.

Sad wrote:

My condolences goes out to the family.
So sory for your loss.
Keep God close and he will help ease your pain.

I am the cousin of manuel matias and i thank you for your consern

Fairfield Resident wrote:

Sorry about your loss. Now all involved in the tresspassing on private property, after closing hours nontheless, need to be issued infractions. A clear message needs to be sent to non-residents that tresspassing in the late hours of the night will not be tolerated in Fairfield. This tragedy could have ben easily prevented. The expense of this rescue and recovery effort now comes out of the town budget. Taxes already increased substantially in 2008 and occurences like this, will ensure that they rise again in 2009. So, hope you all enjoyed your swim, next time go to Beardsley Park.

My cousin just drowned in a lake and all you can think about is taxes and by the way he wasn't trespassing because he was with a friend who was allowed to be there so next time you read something remember peoples words can be twisted and everything you read isn't true

Fairfield Resident wrote:

Of course it's sad, but perhaps he shouldn't have been tresspassing on private property in the middle of the night....

he wasn't trespassing because he was with a friend who was allowed to be there

Larissa wrote:

I cannot believe what I am reading from a few of you ignorant, heartless people! JUST BECAUSE TEENAGERS TRESPASS ON PRIVATE PROPERTY TO GO SWIMMING DOES NOT MEAN THEY DESERVE TO DIE!
HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF THIS BOY WAS YOUR SON? HOW CALLOUS CAN PEOPLE BE?
you talk about taxpayers money when a mother just lost her child! How dare you.

thanks for defending my cousin

the next thing will be a lawsuit by the family claiming that everyone else, other than the poor kid, was at fault - the lake association for not having warnings about not swimming, no lifeguards after midnight, against the Town for a delayed rescue response, you name it, the next story will be about the family cashing in!

is there another makeshift memorial there i cant take this crap litter clean that crap up litter bugs

this is horrible story and i would never wish this to happen to anyone but how do you just fall in the water from the shoreline and drown.

was he a member to swim there?

Bwuhaaa O well wrote:

was he a member to swim there?

the story said that the kid was trespassing.

I'm sorry the boy died.

I hope all parents who read this think about it the next time their teenager is out past midnight. 17 is still a baby, as this story proves. When I was 17 I would never have been allowed to stay out so late with friends. Too much freedom too soon today.

First of all, it is irrelevant how late this boy was out. No matter what time of the day it is, day or night a drowning can occur.
If you read any of the articles you would see that an officer said the lakes depth could be deceptive; one minute your ankle deep and the next 20 feet over your head.
I read the Ct Post online almost daily and I am really tired of seeing rude comments and heartless remarks about this and other topics on here. When a child dies, you should offer condolences and keep the rude comments to yourself. This boy drowned BY ACCIDENT, it is ridiculous that any of you try to insinuate that it is the parents fault.
Be human and show some sympathy towards a grieving family that did nothing wrong.

How dare you rude people out there make comments like taxes, lawsuits, trespassing, bad parenting and "he should've known"... ALL OF THIS SHIT IS NOT IMPORTANT AND DISRESPECTFUL... A 17 year old's life has ended.... have some respect!! If you have nothing good to say then don't say it at all.

Anyways, I would like to say that I know the mother of Manny... and I've known her to be a cool, loving and fun person. I'm TRULY sorry that she has to go through something like this. Although Manny had a horrible end he is in a better place. My condolences go out to the family and friends of Manny.

Please stop these stupid, rude comments!!

Jeebs wrote:

<quoted text>
the story said that the kid was trespassing.

you must of lived a sheltered life then. hell im only 21 but i would of moved out if my parents were like that. my parents didnt know have of the stuff i did but oh well. i was out partying and everything else but you have to live life. some people just make stupid decisions and i made sure i never put myself in a bad situation. i never drank and drove, never did drugs, or anything like that. its just a matter of being responsible.

reader wrote:

I'm sorry the boy died.
I hope all parents who read this think about it the next time their teenager is out past midnight. 17 is still a baby, as this story proves. When I was 17 I would never have been allowed to stay out so late with friends. Too much freedom too soon today.

i meant to comment on this post. dont know why i was commenting on my own.