Two Douglas County families spent Wednesday grieving and making burial arrangements after cousins drowned in Troup County over the Labor Day holiday weekend.
A’Jada McGuire, 12, is being remembered as a hero, her parents told Channel 2 Action News.
Her mother, Tara Thomas, said McGuire drowned trying to rescue her twin cousins during a family reunion at West Point Lake.
“I’m not supposed to be burying; my baby, she’s supposed to be burying us,” Thomas said.
About 4 p.m. Sunday, the sixth-grade cheerleader noticed her 12-year-old cousin Carlton Woodall and his twin brother, Carson, struggling in the water.
RELATED: Drownings continue to rise in Georgia, despite water safety efforts
McGuire knew how to swim and jumped in to help, Thomas said.
“That was the kind of person she was,” her mother said.
After pulling Carlton to safety, McGuire was pulled under by a current.
Troup County divers and first responders recovered the bodies of McGuire and Carson Woodall about three hours later, Channel 2 reported.
“I just wanted her to know that we love her and she’s gonna live on forever in our hearts,” Thomas said.
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