The Father of Jean Fritz Pierre (pictured below), the Brooklyn teenager who drowned in a lake this past June, recently received a phone call from his son’s school, saying his son is repeatedly absent, The New York Daily News reports.
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Jonas Pierre (pictured above center) said the call added another layer of grief to his heart. “I think, why are you calling, why are you telling me this,” he said. “Don’t you know my son is dead?”
Jean, who shared his Flatbush apartment with his dad and step-sister Michaela (pictured above), said the school’s call was heartless.
“Maybe the school doesn’t think it’s important, but it’s important to me. I don’t think I could ever get another son like him.”
Jonas was with classmates on a hiking trip at Bear Mountain State Park when he and a friend reportedly decided to leave the group and take a swim in Hessian Lake.
But because the lake features deep pits at the bottom, swimming is prohibited.
Park workers who saw the teens in the lake reportedly warned the pair four times to get out. But Jean soon disappeared under the water’s pull.
Police eventually found his body after a 50-minute search; Jean was trapped under 14 feet of water. His friend escaped unharmed.
An investigation by city officials this week found no guilty parties in Fritz’ death; however, Jonas disagrees, filing a notice of claims for two $5 million lawsuits against the city this month.
Department Of Education officials said they would make sure Jonas no longer receives phone calls from Prospect Heights International High School.
“We apologize for any pain or suffering this may have caused the family and are checking all data systems to ensure that the family doesn’t receive these calls anymore,” said Erin Hughes, a DOE spokeswoman.
But Mark Rayo, Pierre’s attorney, says he has yet to receive an apology from the city.
“They added insult to injury,” he said. “How neglectful can you get?”
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