N. Side drowning victim identified

A man who drowned in Lake Michigan on the North Side was identified Saturday after he was involved in one of three separate incidents in which swimmers were pulled from the lake Friday.

Ronald Washington, 61, of the 100 block of West Maple, was pulled from the lake near North Avenue Beach at Burton Place at 1:45 p.m., officials said. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in “very critical” condition and was later pronounced dead, officials said. A Saturday autopsy found he drowned and his death was ruled an accident, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Later Friday, at 6 p.m., a 12-year-old girl was also pulled out of the lake near North Avenue Beach. She was listed in “very critical” condition at Lurie Children’s Hospital Friday night, officials said.

The girl was identified in news accounts as Ayanna Patterson. Her uncle, Timothy Hollins, told WMAQChannel 5 news that he was with the girl and another niece when “all of a sudden, the water was just over my head. ... I was fighting against the current, trying to hold three people up, but it was just impossible.”

And at 8 p.m., the Chicago Fire Department rescued another 12-year-old girl who was swimming in the lake near Rogers Beach Park. Waves pulled the girl away from the shore and she began screaming for help, Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said. Paramedics treated the girl, who was in good condition, Langford said.

Paramedics also treated a 17-year-old boy after he tried rescuing the girl but got slammed against rocks and suffered minor cuts, Langford said.