Teenage Boy Drowns in Lake Michigan

A 16-year-old ward of the state apparently drowned Tuesday in Lake Michigan in the South Side’s Kenwood neighborhood, authorities said.

Shaun King, 16, of 4833 N. Francisco Ave., drowned at 5000 S. Lake Shore Dr. and was pronounced dead at 9:07 p.m. at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.

The Chicago Fire Department and police Marine Unit responded about 2 p.m. to a report of a person in the water at 5200 S. Lake Shore Dr., according to police News Affairs Officer David Banks.

Fire Media Affairs spokesman Quention Curtis said King was initially taken to Northwestern Hospital in serious-to-critical condition.

Authorities said King was a ward of the state and his home address is listed as the Lawrence Hall Youth Services home.

Lawrence Hall is a not-for-profit child welfare agency that houses at-risk children. The home is staffed with employees, volunteers and board members, according to the home’s Web site.

The home receives $17 to $19 million annually from government grants and contracts, private support and allocations from the United Way of Chicago and Episcopal Charities, the site said.

An autopsy is scheduled for later Wednesday, the medical examiner’s office said.

Wentworth Area detectives are conducting a death investigation, pending the results of the autopsy, Banks said.