UPDATED: Local teen drowns in rock quarry (this version corrects location information)

Members of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office Underwater Recovery Team work from their boat at the scene of a drowning at an old lime rock quarry on U.S. Highway 441 north of Ocala, Fla. on Friday, June 20, 2025. [Photo courtesy James Lucas, PIO, Marion County Fire Rescue]

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Posted June 24, 2025 | By Jennifer Hunt Murty, [email protected]
Photos Courtesy James Lucas/Marion County Fire Rescue
Aerial Photos Courtesy Alan Youngblood

A North Marion High School 11th grader drowned on June 20 in a rock quarry on North Highway 441 outside of Ocala.

According to Kevin Christian, the director of public relations for Marion County Public Schools, the student was Reshon Reese, 16, an 11th grader at NMHS.

The call for service report released Tuesday by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office noted that Reshon, who has asthma, tried to make it to the edge of the quarry pool and began to panic and went under.

In 2017, two other teens died in similar quarries. Reports from the MCSO indicate that Zachary Isaiah Newton, 18, of Tampa, died at a quarry at 6849 NW Gainesville Road on May 27, 2017, and Trey Austin Dagwan Cardozo, 17, from Largo, died on July 11, 2017, at a quarry at 3400 NW Gainesville Road.

According to a WESH 2 report at the time, “deputies said the trespassers had seen video of people cliff diving into Ocala quarries on social media and wanted to try it themselves.”

The property where Reshon perished on June 20, at 6195 N. Hwy. 441, was transferred from REO Funding Solutions V LLC to its current owner, Ocala Lime Rock LLC, on June 22, 2017.
A principal for Ocala Lime Rock, David Moallem, told the “Gazette” on June 23 by phone that no one had notified him of Friday’s drowning.

“We have done everything we can to lock the property up and they bring big equipment and break in,” Moallem said.

On June 23, a “Gazette” representative was able to access the property as the gates were open.

The property is not currently being used for mining, Moallem confirmed. He said there were “No Trespassing” signs, but the “Gazette” could not find those signs. Moallem said that is because they were stolen.

Moallem also said people use the land as a dumping spot and for possible drug transactions. The “Gazette” did observe potential dumping.

“Just a couple of weeks ago, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office arrested someone there for a shooting,” Moallem said.
Emergency call records confirm there was a call about a gunshot to that address on June 9.

Marion County Fire Rescue sent its technical rescue team to the site on June 20 and the MCSO dispatched its underwater recovery team. Photos of both teams, provided by MCFR, do not show any warning signs around the quarry.

A spokesperson for MCFR indicated that the Florida Forestry Service had to help clear a path to get equipment to the quarry.
Requests for information and comment from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office had not been received by press time.

Dennis McFatten, executive director of Safety and Security for Marion County Public Schools, told the “Gazette” that the history of teens going to the quarries was not known to him until this recent tragedy.

“We need to get the word out to parents about this risk,” he said.

“On behalf of the Marion County School Board and the entire district, I wish to extend my deepest condolences to the family, friends, and classmates of Reshon Reese. We feel great sorrow for the loss of such a young and promising life. During this difficult time, we are keeping Reshon’s loved ones in our thoughts and prayers,” said MCPS chair Lori Conrad.

School district member Nancy Thrower, who worked at NMHS for more than 16 years, wrote that “the Northside has had more than its share of terribly heartbreaking losses of students through the years. The Northside stays united for each other through it all.”

Here is data on unintentional drowning deaths in Marion County and Florida:
Marion Florida

Year Count Count
2023 3 465
2022 6 464
2021 6 486
2020 12 475
2019 4 388
2018 7 408
2017 7 415
2016 6 428
2015 7 430
2014 8 397
2013 1 353
2012 9 353
2011 8 349
2010 9 373
2009 12 382
2008 2 390
2007 2 393
2006 5 404
2005 2 353
2004 8 355

Florida Statutes § 768.075, outlines premises liability to property owners. Typically, property owners are not liable for injuries to trespassers; there is an exception for children under the “attractive nuisance doctrine,” a common law principle still recognized in Florida.

Property owners in Florida can sometimes be held liable for children drowning on their property, depending on whether or not they have taken precautions to protect children from an attractive nuisance, in most cases a swimming pool.