COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Grieving parents of a 12-year-old who died after contracting Naegleria Fowleri, an amoeba in Lake Murray, spoke out for the first time.

The family spoke in front of the media for the first time Tuesday, calling on state agencies to test fresh bodies of water and issue public service announcements. Midlands attorney and Columbia City Councilman Tyler Bailey was hired by the family to conduct an independent investigation into their son’s death.

Bailey told reporters the investigation will do what state agencies should have done: Find out where Carr got the amoeba from and have fresh water in South Carolina tested for this type of amoeba.

“We don’t want his death to be in vain, because had we known he wouldn’t have been in it,” said Ebony Carr, Jaysen’s mother.

The

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