WMBFNews.com | Myrtle Beach/Florence, SC | News, Weather, SportsFamilies speak after tragic boat accident

Families speak after tragic boat accident

GEORGETOWN COUNTY, SC (WMBF) - After losing two generations in a boating accident in Georgetown last Wednesday, family members of those lost are preparing to bury their loved ones on Tuesday.

Family members of the victims say they want to make sure that even though lives may have been lost, they haven't been forgotten.

Willis Robinson, the brother of Lou Ann Robinson, 47, and the uncle of Shaquatia Robinson, 19, says facing the reality of the deaths of two generations of family has been tough.

"We are not doing great, you know, in our loss," explained Robinson, "but we are pushing on. It's like it seems like a nightmare."

Shaquatia Robinson's son Zyair Smalls is listed as in critical condition at MUSC Hospital in Charleston.  Willis Robinson says he is hopefully that Zyair will get better soon.

The 17-year-old's grandmother and adopted mother tells WMBF News she was heartbroken when she first heard the news.

Mary Pyatt, the mother of Rishard Pyatt, 17, says that he was just trying to get home.

"He should have been home earlier," explained Pyatt. "He was coming from the other side, playing basketball, hanging out with his friends."

Officials found the body of Shaquatia Robinson around midnight Wednesday. Her mother, Lou Ann Robinson, was found dead about eight hours later, just 300 yards from where the boat overturned.

Officials searched for Rishard Pyatt for more than nine hours before recovering his body from the waterway.

Coroner Kenny Johnson said Friday that autopsies confirmed all three died from drowning.

According to officials, the three were killed when the 15-foot boat they were in capsized near the shore of the Waccamaw River Wednesday night. Representatives from the Coast Guard say in all, six people - four adults, one child and an infant - were inside of the boat when the accident occurred.

Johnson told WMBF News the boat was just 30 yards from Sandy Island when it overturned.

One adult in the boat was able to swim to shore shortly after the incident to call 911 for assistance from a cell phone.  The boat operator, Tiffany Tucker, and her 5-year-old son were the only two survivors.

Johnson  says those on-board the boat were headed back home when it capsized. He believes the boat is probably at the bottom of the Intracoastal Waterway.

A Good Samaritan, Charles Pyatt, is being credited Thursday evening with the rescue of the 1-year-old Zyair Smalls from the water. He remains in critical condition at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. 

The U.S. Coast Guard says its rescue team searched for 27 hours for those missing by helicopter and boat.  The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Georgetown County Sheriff's Office and the Midway Fire Department all assisted in the search.

Officials say just a few families live on Sandy Island, a Gullah community only accessible by boat.

Rishard Pyatt's mother says tentative plans are in place for services to be held at Waccamaw High School Tuesday in her son's honor.

©2009 WMBF News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.