A popular Chicago hairstylist died tragically on Saturday after falling from a boat during a weekend trip with friends amid the city’s heat wave. Adding a shocking layer to the heartbreaking loss, the victim, 27-year-old Zahrie Walls, was reportedly a close friend of 19-year-old Kenneka Jenkins, who was found dead in a hotel freezer in 2017.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, on Saturday afternoon, Walls and her friends were at the Playpen, a popular boating spot near Navy Pier, when she fell out of the boat, which likely happened because the water wasn’t safe, according to the Chicago Fire Department and Walls’ mother, Kizzy Wells.
“Anybody can lose a battle with Lake Michigan,” Wells told the Sun-Times. “Those currents don’t play fair.”
“I felt in my heart that something wasn’t right,” Wells said of the day her daughter died. “I knew something wasn’t right.”
From the Sun-Times:
The heat wave brought mid-90-degree temperatures to the city and heat indices that pushed past 100, according to the National Weather Service. The heat sent many to Lake Michigan to cool down, but the water was not necessarily as safe as it may have appeared, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said.
“You don’t know what the lake has waiting for you,” he said. “It can look calm, but under the surface by a few feet, it could be churning.”
Walls was found unresponsive in the water near Navy Pier Saturday around 5:15 p.m., according to police. She was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.
In fact, Walls, a well-known hairstylist in the city who owned Z the Stylist Suites in Chicago Lawn, was one of two suspected drownings in the area over the weekend.
On Monday, firefighters resumed their search for a missing boater near 63rd Street Beach, who also reportedly fell from their boat Saturday. Several people on social media are alleging that Zahrie was participating in Black Yacht Weekend, a “floating festival” drawing thousands to the Windy City for Juneteenth weekend.
Zahrie’s friend, Armani Valdez, told Block Club Chicago that while her friend’s boat was not officially part of the event, it was why she had gone boating with her friends.
Block Club Chicago noted that Black Yacht Weekend organizers said in a since-deleted Instagram post that they were “heartbroken” by a death in the lake and urged participants to wear life jackets and not overcrowd boats.
“While the incident did not take place within the Black Yacht Weekend event area and has not been officially linked to any of our attendees, our hearts are with the individual’s family and loved ones during this difficult time,” organizers said. “We remain committed to celebrating Black joy safely and responsibly.”
Zahrie Walls’ Mom Explains Her Late Daughter’s Kenneka Jenkins Connection
Wells told reporters that her daughter, who had over 76,000 social media followers, was best friends with Kenneka Jenkins, the 19-year-old found frozen to death in a hotel freezer at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare on Sept. 10, 2017, under still-unclear circumstances.
According to the grieving mom, the girls went to high school together and Zahrie tribute her late friend with a tattoo.
“Kenneka was her person to try different hairstyles on when she was just learning,” Wells said to the Chicago Tribune. “She never healed (from her death). She has her name tattooed on her upper shoulder.”
She also said her daughter had clients that included numerous celebrities and influencers, and that she spent much of her time at work.
“Her whole focus was to take care of her family,” Wells said. “She was just so mature from such a young age.”
“She would encourage others even when she was not feeling her best,” she continued. “Our phone calls always ended with ‘I love you.’”
Walls’ death comes nearly eight years after that of Kenneka Jenkins. In December 2023, Jenkins’ family was awarded $6.4 million in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the hotel.
