Family Of Child Who Drowned In Hotel Swimming Pool Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Swimming pools can be a place of endless summer fun for children, but also a source of danger.  Every year, several children drown in swimming pools in the United States.  To prevent tragic accidents like these, specific laws exist to require safety measures related to swimming pools.  For example, pools are considered an “attractive nuisance,” which means that the owners of properties that contain swimming pools must build fences around them or otherwise enclose them so that children cannot access the pool when there is not adequate adult supervision.  Premises liability laws do not usually protect trespassers, but if a minor trespassed onto the property because of an attractive nuisance such as an easily accessible swimming pool, the property owner can still be legally responsible for injuries.  Likewise, the operators of public swimming pools and recreational facilities where pools are only open to paying guests must ensure that lifeguards are on duty whenever the pool is open.  A Columbia premises liability lawyer can help you if you have been injured in a preventable accident at a swimming pool on someone else’s property.

Court Dismisses Criminal Charges Against Victim’s Mother After Drowning Accident

In 2021, Demi Williams and her mother and siblings were visiting Myrtle Beach from Kentucky.  The family was staying at the Crown Reef Resort, which has a swimming pool connected to a lazy river for inner tubing.  Four-year-old Demi went to the lazy river, where the water was about three feet deep, and when her mother, Destiny Morgan, did not see her return, she began looking for her and saw that she had drowned in the pool near where the lazy river began.  There was no lifeguard on duty at the time.

Police originally arrested Morgan on suspicion of criminal neglect of a child, but they quickly dropped the charges against her.  Morgan filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Crown Reef Resort, citing premises liability.  According to premises liability laws, property owners must keep their property in safe condition in order to prevent injury to visitors; the protections are especially strong for paying customers of businesses such as hotels.

Demi Williams is the second child to drown in the swimming pool of the Crown Reef Resort in Myrtle Beach.  In 2018, a 7-year-old named Malazya Fayall drowned in the same pool when her family was visiting Myrtle Beach from New York.  In the present lawsuit, Demi’s family is seeking punitive damages against the hotel as well as compensatory damages.  It is a matter of extraordinary negligence if a hotel does not provide lifeguards until after two children drown in the same swimming pool several years apart.

Let Us Help You Today

The premises liability lawyers at the Stanley Law Group can help you if you were injured in a preventable accident at a hotel while visiting South Carolina.  Contact The Stanley Law Group in Columbia, South Carolina or call (803)799-4700 for a free initial consultation.

Source:

wmbfnews.com/2024/04/16/mother-drowning-victim-files-wrongful-death-lawsuit-against-myrtle-beach-hotel/