Family remembers Ernest Harmon-Tague, 9-year-old who drowned in Tacony Creek
Dozens gathered for a balloon launch in his memory, as police continue to investigate what led to his death.
Balloons filled the skies above Frankford on Saturday as dozens of family and friends gathered to memorialize Ernest “Ernie” Harmon-Tague, a 9-year-old boy who drowned in Tacony Creek last Sunday.
The balloon release marked the end of a painful and grief-filled week for the child’s family, including his two older siblings, who are now left with just memories of a boy who was by all accounts warm, energetic, and loving.
His mother, Robin Harmon, spoke to the attendees, many of them neighborhood kids, who milled on the block outside the family’s home for more than two hours on Saturday, bringing food, candles, flowers, and bundles of red and green balloons to her front porch.
“I appreciate everyone coming out for my son,” Harmon said. “He was a sweetheart. He was an angel, and he’s still an angel,” she added, before the crowd released the balloons to cries of “We love you, Ernest.”
The event was marred by uncertainty around the boy’s death, as police are still investigating how he ended up in the creek, and the medical examiner has not yet determined a cause of death.
Harmon said her son had left the house to go around the corner on Sunday, and was supposed to return quickly. About an hour after he left, two boys who had been with him at the creek came running to her house and told her that he had drowned, prompting her to call 911.
Jesse Moye, Ernie’s stepfather, said the boy never went to the creek, which was far, and did not know how to swim. He was found by medics shortly after 6 p.m. last Sunday, and taken to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, where he was pronounced dead shortly before 7:30 p.m.
Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore said police are still investigating how the boy ended up in the water. He was with a group of other children near the creek that afternoon, Vanore said, but it’s not clear whether he fell, jumped, or was pushed into the water.
The investigation is active, he said, and detectives are still working, alongside school officials, to identify and locate the children who were there.
A spokesperson for the Department of Public Health told The Inquirer on Friday that the official cause of death was still pending.
‘Ernie was the life of everything’
Harmon described her son as deeply loving. She recalled that every few weeks, he would use his allowance to buy her flowers at the corner store.
Ernie dreamed of growing up to be a professional football player, either playing wide receiver or running back, his mother said. And he already knew what he was going to do with the money from his first contract, she said: buy a big house for himself, and a Ferrari for his mother.
“He’d say ‘The house is mine, but the car is yours,’” Harmon remembered.
Ernie had recently started practice with a local football team and was planning to play his first game on June 24.
Outside of school, he was most often at Mantle of Glory, the church on the same block as his house, where Harmon said Ernie attended services more than five days a week, often by himself. He often went to the church’s Spanish language services, and was learning the language, his third.
Lizasuain DeJesus, who taught Ernie every Tuesday night at the church and led vigil participants in a prayer before the balloon release, said he was “humble, funny, and a quick learner.”
At the balloon launch, DeJesus, whose daughter, Iriana, was killed in 2000 at 5 years old, wore a shirt she had made with a photo of Ernie, as well as photos of chicken pastelillos, his favorite snack.
Videos were passed around of Ernie racing go-karts with his older brother, eating chicken nuggets at a bowling alley with his friends, and praying before his evening classes at church. Neighbors recalled how he knew the name of everyone on his block, no matter their age, even if they didn’t know his.
Moye, Ernie’s stepfather, said the boy would always wait up for him to get home from work, often after midnight, so they could spend time together.
“Ernie was the life of everything,” Moye said.
Staff writer Ellie Rushing contributed to this article.