Community gathers on N.J. street to mourn mother and child killed in ‘tragic accident’ in river – NJ.com

On a cloudy Friday afternoon in Boonton, friends, family and an entire community gathered to mourn the loss of a “beloved” mother and her son with the “beautiful smile.”

Three days after police found Warda Syed, 35, and her son Uzair Ahmed, 11, both dead in a river in Grace Lord Park in Boonton, the family held funeral services for the mother and her child at the Jam-e-Masjid Islamic Center. Mourners gathered in droves on Madison Street, sitting cross-legged on prayer mats, finding space on the street and in adjacent lots, captive and racked by grief.

“Our family is mourning the loss of Warda Syed, a beloved mother, a sister, a wife, and a friend of many here today. She loved her children,” Gul Khan, a family representative, said in a statement. “Young Uzair Ahmed was full of life with a beautiful smile. He loved his friends in John Hill School and at JMIC.”

On Wednesday afternoon, the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office identified Syed and Uzair as the woman and child pulled from the Rockaway River in Grace Lord Park late Tuesday night. A second child, a 6-year-old boy, found at the scene was also confirmed as Syed’s son, the office previously said.

Syed was a substitute teacher at the Boonton school district and worked in the district’s aftercare program, confirmed district Superintendent Robert Presuto. The school district had a crisis team in place for any students or staff who needed counseling in the wake of the tragic news, he said.

As of Thursday afternoon, police have not released additional information on what happened to Syed and her son.

The moments leading up to Syed and her son’s death are still a mystery, with little known about why Syed stopped at the park and what happened after.

At 5:39 p.m. Tuesday, a passerby called 911 and told police a 6-year-old child was shouting for his mother in the upper pond section of Grace Lord Park, authorities previously said in a press conference at the park Tuesday night.

When police arrived, they found the child standing by the bank of the Rockaway River and saw footprints leading down to the water, Acting Prosecutor Robert Carroll said. Responding officers also saw two bodies in the river, at the top of the waterfall that the river flows into, he said.

But the family called Syed and Uzair’s deaths a “tragic accident,” calling on officials to install safety barriers along the water where the two were found.

“At the end, we lost our beloved Warda and Uzair to a very tragic accident,” Khan said in the statement. “Our lives will never be the same. Let’s hope to avoid anything like this from ever happening again by installing additional safety measures at the park and bringing awareness to the community.”

Khan asked anyone who would like to donate to the family to donate to the Jam-e-Masjid Islamic Center on the family’s behalf. A GoFundMe that was previously set up was taken down by Friday morning.

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Rodrigo Torrejon may be reached at rtorrejon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rodrigotorrejon.