Sheila Gomez has too many questions about the night her son died in Myrtle Beach.
Why did he ask for help? How did he end up in Myrtle Beach? And why did the Myrtle Beach police officer let him swim into the ocean where he eventually drowned?
Michael Cherry’s body was found in early 2025. on Oct. 5 near 8th Avenue South — a few blocks from where a Myrtle Beach police officer was initially flagged down by witnesses who saw the swimmer going in and out of the water and calling for help.
According to the incident report, an officer found a 39-year-old North Carolina man sitting on the beach on 6th Avenue North about 6 to 10 feet from the water line. It was about 2:15 a.m. when the officer tried to talk to Cherry, who got up, ran into the water and swam away, the report said.
Gomez said the officer who made contact with her son told her he watched Cherry swim five blocks and shined a light on him while he was in the water.
Witnesses lost sight of Cherry around 2:40 a.m., according to the Horry County Coroner’s Office. in the dark water, but found him about 45 minutes later near 8th Avenue South at 3:13 a.m.
“My son is gone,” Gomez said. “He died a horrible death. He could have been saved. They didn’t even try (to pull him out of the water).”
When asked why the officer watched Cherry swim away, Myrtle Beach police spokesman Randolph Angotti said the officer was following protocol. According to him, lifeguards usually do not go into the water at night because it is dangerous.
Rescue crews usually search for swimmers at night when necessary or in certain situations, such as when a swimmer is reported missing or in distress.
An officer’s report said Cherry was not in distress, but lifeguards and the U.S. Coast Guard were contacted as a precaution to assist in removing the swimmer from the water, according to a Myrtle Beach police Facebook post.
Rescue crews did not enter the water.
“It’s just hell”
Gomez last spoke to her son around 9 p.m. the night before he died, she said.
Cherry told her mother she was expecting a boyfriend and needed to hang up on him because his phone was on 3 percent, she added.
The 63-year-old Rocky Mount, North Carolina, woman expected him to call that Monday to arrange a ride home.
When Cherry didn’t call, Gomez began looking for him, calling the hospital and his girlfriend, with whom he lived in Ashe, North Carolina. They broke up that Saturday. She also filed a missing person report.
But she didn’t learn the horrible truth until the Horry County Coroner’s Office called.
“I asked him, ‘Is my son dead?’ He said, ‘Yes,’ and I fell to pieces,” Gomez said.
The coroner told her that Cherry had been on the beach begging for help before going into the surf.
“From that moment on, I don’t know what happened,” she said. That includes how Cherry ended up in Myrtle Beach from North Carolina.
Gomez was hoping the officer would tell her what her son said and why he was asking for help. But the officer has not.
She posted a plea on Facebook to anyone who was in contact with her son that night, and is hoping her questions will be answered.
“I pray that my son gets justice,” she said. “His life was very valuable. I don’t know, it’s just hell.”
“He was someone”
Cherry was Gomez’s only son.
She said he had struggled with addiction and mental health issues for nearly 20 years
Cherry had been clean for a year before his death, Gomez said.
Cherry was released from prison in June. He went to a recovery home in Calabash, North Carolina, and then stayed with his mother for the summer, where he “turned (his) life around,” Gomez said.
Ironically, Gomez said, mother and son went on vacation to Myrtle Beach.
He eventually moved in with his girlfriend. It was there that he ran out of medication, including anti-depressant and anti-anxiety medication.
“He got into a bad place and his girlfriend couldn’t take him anymore,” Gomez said.
Cherry, who worked as a roofer and landscaper, planned to return home with his mother. But he never succeeded.
Gomez feared her son’s paranoia may have contributed to his erratic behavior that night in Myrtle Beach.
But she fears she will never know what really happened. She knows her son had a big heart and “he loved me so much.”
“He was loved,” Gomez said. “He was something.”