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15-Year-Old Boy Dies After Fall Into Harlem River

By  Paul Lomax and Jess Wisloski | May 13, 2012 11:38am | Updated on May 13, 2012 4:10pm

The Harlem River promenade, where Justin Smith, 15, fell to his death in the water on May 12, 2012.
The Harlem River promenade, where Justin Smith, 15, fell to his death in the water on May 12, 2012.
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DNAinfo/Paul Lomax

MANHATTAN —A teenage boy was pulled out of the Harlem River Saturday night near E. 102nd Street and the promenade, according to police.

Justin Smith, 15, of East Harlem, was pulled out of the choppy waters near E. 102nd St and the FDR Drive shortly after the police and the Coast Guard responded to an 8:17 p.m. 911 call, police said.

Resuscitation attempts on the scene were unsuccessful, according to police. Smith was removed to Metropolitan Hospital, but declared dead upon arrival.

Police would not release further information on the victim.

A 13-year-old boy who identified himself as a classmate of Smith's said the victim had only recently begun attending the Life Sciences School a few blocks away on East 96th Street.

Life Sciences School in the Upper East Side on May 13, 2012.
Life Sciences School in the Upper East Side on May 13, 2012.
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DNAinfo/Paul Lomax

"I used to hang out with him, he was a cool kid," said Eric, who did not want to give his last name, but said he lives in the Bronx.

"He was a nice guy, who was never mean to anyone," Eric added, saying he thought that Smith had enrolled in the school a month earlier.

The school doors were locked on Sunday, and no memorial marked the spot where police said the boy fell into the river,

As of Sunday afternoon, the medical examiner's office had not yet determined a cause of death.

No criminality is suspected, police said, but an investigation is ongoing.

The Life Sciences School, at 320 E. 96th St., where a classmate said Justin Smith went to school.
The Life Sciences School, at 320 E. 96th St., where a classmate said Justin Smith went to school.
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DNAinfo/Paul Lomax