A well-known Chicago hairstylist was identified as the woman whose body was recovered Saturday in Lake Michigan near Navy Pier.
Zahrie Walls, 27, was found in the water just off East Grand Avenue at about 5:30 p.m. and transported to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Her mother, Kizzy Wells, told the Tribune on Sunday she still is trying to find out the circumstances surrounding her daughter’s death. She said her hardworking daughter decided to join friends that afternoon boating on Lake Michigan.
“It was just a spur-of-the-moment thing,” she said, fighting back tears. “She was on a boat and allegedly fell off due to the current. She doesn’t go out much because she works all the time, traveling to different cities. My baby works so hard. She was doing 10 to 12 (hair appointments) a day.”
Wells said her daughter’s friend called her Saturday afternoon to tell her what had happened, and she rushed in an Uber to the hospital. She said dozens of family and friends joined her at Northwestern holding out hope for a miracle.
“We were all unsure what happened. I know they tried their best to save her. … We knew it was her in the water, but no one knew if she survived,” Kizzy Wells said, “but, I just knew, I felt it. A mother knows.”
Chicago Fire Department’s Jason Lach, deputy district chief in charge of marine dive operations, said rescuers responded to two dozen water-related events this weekend, including pulling people out of the water, boat fires and other mishaps. Besides Walls’ fatality, he said two other people likely suffered water-related deaths.
Late Sunday, rescuers still were trying to recover the body of a boat operator of a 28-foot vessel who went missing Saturday at 63rd Street Beach.
“He went out enjoying the lake, made a turn and was ejected from the boat and did not have a life preserver on,” Lach said. “Nobody else on board knew how to operate the boat. … They drifted some time.”
In a third incident, at about 10 p.m. Saturday, another man fell into the water near Navy Pier. Bystanders pulled him out, but he was deceased, Lach said.
He said the Fire Department responded to more than 480 water-related emergencies last year. “This (weekend) is more elevated than usual and a lot of it has to do because it’s one of the first really nice weather days,” Lach said. “Know what your capabilities are, both as a boat operator and swimming wise. The thing I always tell people is (to) swim in a lifeguarded area. Even a good swimmer has a bad day.”
A celebrity stylist
Wells said her daughter lived in a condo in Chicago’s Medical District and traveled frequently for her work. She first began doing hair as a teen while growing up on the West Side. She owned Z Style Suites and had a strong social media following at @zahriethestylist, where she described herself as a celebrity stylist.
“She just always had that magic hand,” her mother said. “Once I saw how she had been doing hair at the age of 14, that’s when I started buying all the tools that she needed.”
Wells said of her daughter, “She loved her friends and family. She loved her momma. She loved her baby sister, Tia. And she was just so humble. She loved making people happy with her creativeness.”
Wells said her daughter, still single, graduated from Collins Academy High School on the city’s West Side, and was best friends with Kenneka Jenkins, 19, who was found dead in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in September 2017 after she had been missing for nearly a day. The two went to high school together.
“Kenneka was her person to try different hairstyles on when she was just learning,” Wells said. “She never healed (from her death). She has her name tattooed on her upper shoulder.”
Family and friends were planning a balloon release for early Sunday evening. Funeral arrangements were expected to be handled by Zahrie’s godfather, owner of Brian P. Pickett Funeral Group.
In a Sunday statement, the group Black Yacht Weekend offered its condolences to the family and said the incident did not take place within the event area and “has not been officially linked to any of our attendees.”
The event continued Sunday, with organizers urging attendees to “wear life jackets, stay hydrated, monitor weather and wind conditions, and avoid overcrowding on vessels.”
Dangerous conditions
Chicago police are investigating the water fatality, and declined Sunday afternoon to provide further details.
Dave Benjamin, co-founder of the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, said Sunday that the “very strong south wind” is a major factor causing dangerous conditions this weekend. He discouraged the use of water inflatables such as water rafts, floating mattresses and beach balls in these conditions.
“With the first good weekend of the summer, it’s a free-for-all,” Benjamin told the Tribune while at Washington Park in Michigan City, Indiana. “It’s like New Year’s Eve and amateur hour. Everyone’s coming out. Everyone wants to have a good time.”
