Schoolmates, Teachers Mourn 2 Boys Who Died in L.A. River

The schoolmates of two Long Beach boys who drowned in the Los Angeles River received a hard lesson in life Thursday as they learned of the tragedy from their teachers at Grover Cleveland Elementary School.

No, little Derrick Ashe and Ray Wells won’t be back for recess. No, they won’t be here for lunch. You can’t see them after school anymore. And fun-loving Derrick will never do the Macarena again on the playground.

They are gone. Forever.

“Our classroom misses them,” said Yvonne Carver, the boys’ third-grade teacher at the Lakewood school. “Derrick was the rascal you just loved. Ray had the most wonderful smile. He was the perfect student.”

Ray, 8, and Derrick, 9, drowned in the Los Angeles River on Wednesday evening near the Anaheim Street Bridge after a desperate attempt to find them by Long Beach firefighters, including a team of department scuba divers.

Ray’s body was found about 6 p.m. in 8 to 10 feet of water in a particularly treacherous section of the riverbed that is designed to trap debris underwater and keep it from flowing into the ocean. Derrick’s body was found three hours later about 15 feet from where Ray’s was found.

The youngsters lost their lives in an easily accessible area. A hiking trail runs parallel to the river; the chain-link fence along the channel is full of holes.

Firefighters said the boys, who lived nearby, rode their Razor scooters to the river and then walked on the rocks of a berm above the water. They were last seen clinging to a piece of wood before help arrived. Authorities suspect that the boys slipped and fell in while playing.

“We are very much saddened by the loss,” said Naomi Blackmore, Cleveland Elementary’s principal. “I watched it on the TV news Wednesday night but didn’t know who the victims were. I thought, ‘What a tragedy.’ ”

When Blackmore awoke Thursday morning, she learned that Derrick and Ray were the children mentioned in the broadcast. “Those were our kids,” Blackmore said. “It really hit home.”

The boys were bused from Long Beach and had attended the school since kindergarten. Cleveland Elementary, which has 765 students in kindergarten through fifth grade, is in a quiet residential neighborhood.

Thursday morning, teachers sadly informed their students that the boys had perished the night before. Yellow balloons were hung on campus and the school marquee on Hackett Avenue read, “We Miss You Derrick and Ray.”

In Carver’s classroom, the students shared memories. They wrote letters, collected photos and drew pictures of their lost friends for a book they plan to send to the victims’ families.

On the playground, they acted out skits involving the boys and mimicked Derrick’s version of the Macarena, the Latin dance step that was popular a few years ago.

Carver said Derrick and Ray were especially patient and helpful with the hard-of-hearing students who often attend her class. “Those two boys were the most caring,” she said.

Counselors from the district’s crisis response team discussed the tragedy with Carver’s class, and set up a care center in the school’s library for any staff members or students who needed help.

“Some kids have lost their best friends,” said Joanne Tortorici Luna, a psychological counselor with the team. “They wonder if Derrick and Ray will be back for recess. They wonder if they will ever breathe again. We try to help them cope.”

The Cleveland Elementary PTA has created a memorial fund to assist the Wells and Ashe families. Anyone interested in making a donation can call the school at (562) 420-7552.

Meanwhile, administrators of the Long Beach Unified School District issued a formal warning to about 60,000 elementary and middle school students not to play near storm drains, flood control channels or the Los Angeles River.

The warning included a request that every teacher read to their class a news account of what happened to Ray and Derrick.