Gilbert Hernandez drowned in a neighborhood pond with posted signs warning people not to get in the water. We've heard the ponds are infested with snakes, and even saw an alligator for ourselves.
"I am shocked, I had no idea," said Summer Lakes resident Gloria Holmes.
It is sad news to wake up to for people who live around these ponds.
"Many times I thought about going out there swimming but it's just a dangerous thing around here," said Jim Childress, who lives nearby.
Late Sunday night, according to Rosenberg police Hernandez drowned in the pond after getting caught underwater by a high-pressure pump.
"There was a child's party and toward the end of the party, four teenage subjects between 16 and 18 years old decided to go swimming in the retention pond," explained Lt. Aaron Slater with the Rosenberg Police Department.
While there are signs posted clearly prohibiting swimming, fishing, and boating, Childress says it's guests and visitors, not Summer Lakes residents, who he sees on the water.
He said, "You have a lot of people who come from other subdivisions who don't live here that come and fish and leave trash. People come here and swim that don't live in the subdivision that don't honor the deed restrictions that we have here."
With this neighborhood expanding, residents tell me that a third retention pond is set to go in as well.
1736 "It's really unfortunate," Summer Lakes resident Rachel McCarson said. "But besides having signs up, I don't think there's really anything else that should be expected of the community."
McCarson and many of her neighbors say they don't want fences around their ponds. But they do want peace of mind, so they never have to wake up to this news again.
Holmes said, "Putting fences around, that's going to take away the beauty of the residential section that we have. That's why we all moved here because of the water."
Hernandez was visiting a new homeowner in the area who may not have been aware of the rules. Their home backs right up to the shoreline. An autopsy is scheduled.
