Little Known Black History Fact: Lake Mexia Drowning

Mexia, Texas was the site of a horrific drowning of three Black teenagers who were arrested during the town’s large “Juneteenth” celebration on June 19, 1981. The teenagers, Carl Baker, 19 years old; Steven Booker, 19, and Anthony Freeman, 18, all drowned while being transported in a boat with three law enforcement officials across a lake when the boat capsized.

It was widely reported that the Black youth were handcuffed when the boat tipped over, an allegation that could have merit as all the officials survived. According to a 2001 article written for the Texas Observer by author Johnathan Coleman, the teenagers were at Comanche Crossing, which rests on the shore of Lake Mexia, for the Juneteenth celebration.

The day marked the occasion when Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston on June 19, 1865 to deliver the news that slaves were now free; the Emancipation Proclamation passed in 1863 at the top of that year. Mexia was one of the first Texas towns to widely celebrate Juneteenth.

Baker, Booker and Freeman were arrested for marijuana possession that night and arrested by deputies Kenny Elliott and Kenneth Archie, a Black man, who were also accompanied by probation officer David Drummond. The officers loaded a small boat with the teenagers to transport them across Lake Mexia.

In violation of Texas law, the teenagers were not given life vests and it was later revealed that one of them could not swim. The boat could not handle the combined weight and quickly capsized. The White officers swam to shore while the three teenagers drowned.

The Black officer, who could not swim either, had to be rescued. Eyewitnesses at the time say they saw the teenagers hands bound together when the boat pulled away. No evidence has yet been revealed to prove this theory, but it has remained in question ever since. An all-white jury in Dallas acquitted the Limestone County officers, who were charged with negligent homicide, during an explosive trial on April 17, 1982.

Coleman noted in his article that he attempted to interview all the officers in 1998 but Drummond was the only one to speak with him. Drummond claims he tried to rescue one of the boys and called the incident a tragic accident.

(Photo: Lennette/Trip Advisor)

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