Mother remembers son who drowned at Brighton apartment complex

Family members tell News 8 Now the young man who drowned at an apartment complex in Brighton Saturday night was 17-year-old Marcus Radford. Radford was a student at Franklin High School.

Radford's mother spoke with News 8 Now on Sunday. Tara Radford says her son was a good student, recently earning an academic trip to Japan. Tara says her son was also a good athlete and regularly volunteered for the American Red Cross.

"He's helped out on numerous blood drives for the American Red Cross, because I was doing my internship there and he would go with me to show people how it didn't hurt," says Tara who adds that Marcus's great grandmother passed away just a few days earlier.

Radford was with family and friends at a get together at the Renaissance apartment complex on East Avenue Saturday night. The incident happened at 8:15 p.m. Investigators say Radford was found at the bottom of the pool.  One person was able to pull Radford out of the pool and attempted CPR. He was transported to Strong Memorial Hospital where he died an hour later.

Police say they are considering this to be an accidental drowning and there is no evidence drugs or alcohol were involved.  There was no lifeguard on duty at the time of the drowning, however, it is the apartment's policy that all minors be accompanied by an adult. Adults were present at the time Radford drowned. Family members tell News 8 Now that an autopsy has been scheduled.
 
There are no immediate plans for Marcus's funeral as the family says it is still trying to determine how they will finance the funeral. Contributions are being accepted in Marcus's memory at the following:

East Henrietta Road Church of Christ
Att: Dr. Jerry Houston
285 East Henrietta Road
Rochester, NY 14620
(585) 256-0190