Swimming Pool Safety News

Yet another tragic drowning at an apartment complex has occurred in Texas.  Jesse Guerra, our national drowning accident attorney was saddened to hear that yet another Texas drowning occurred.  However this drowning was a little different than most others as a man drowned in a hot tub rather than in a pool.

KVUE reported that a man was found in Austin floating in a hot tub of an Austin, Texas apartment complex.  911 was called at 3:30 a.m. on May 8^th by an unnamed man and woman.  Dispatchers were told that a man was floating in the hot tub at the Retreat Barton Creek Apartment complex off South Lamar in Austin, Texas.  Officers arrived at the scene and found the man face down in the complex’s hot tub, just as described by the callers.  Homicide detective were called to the scene, and are currently investigating.  The Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office is also conducting an autopsy.  The victim has not been identified, and it is unclear whether he lived in the apartment complex.

Texas apartment pool drowning lawyers know that when the cause of death in a drowning accident is not apparent it is difficult for family members to seek judicial relief.  In this particular case the victim has yet to be identified, and thus some of the man’s family members have not been notified yet.  When the family is eventually notified they will undoubtedly have many questions about how this could have happened.  Thankfully, in this case, the police will have already conducted an investigation, and hopefully determined the cause of death. 

In a case where the victim’s family is brining a civil suit after a drowning or near drowning, such as an allegation of negligence by an apartment complex owner and/or operator, their apartment pool accident attorney must convince a jury that their side of the story is the correct version.  An attorney must prove their facts and elements of the alleged negligence by “a preponderance of the evidence”.  This is a legal term without a hard definition, but is generally means “more than 50 percent.”  Therefore, if the jury believes the attorney’s version of the facts and that the elements of the crime have been met by more than 50 percent, than the attorney has proved his case.

Our Austin swimming pool accident attorney has worked with many victims harmed in a wide range of apartment drowning accidents.  Our firm has vast experience in these types of cases, and understands all of the legal issues related to these events.  Our firm can examine the particular facts of your case and determine if you will be able to prove your case by a preponderance of the evidence.  If you or someone you know has been involved in a drowning or near-drowning like this case, please contact the J. Guerra Law Firm to learn more about how we can help you.

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Texas Drowning Death Remains Under Investigation

Yesterday we posted on the tragic Phoenix swimming pool accident involving a 5 year-old boy. Family members and police officers spent hours scouring the grounds in and around his grandmother's apartment complex in an effort to find the Phoenix child, Gecari Carroll. 

Arizona Central News has uncovered more information and raised more questions about the events that led up to the tragedy.  It appears that Gecari was playing in the pool with his brothers and sisters before their mother called them all inside.  However, Gecari did not make it inside.  His family eventually called authorities to help in the search for him.  All told the family, neighbors, police officers, detectives, even federal authorities were combing the area for clues.  The pool was examined many times. 

It wasn’t until four hours later than an officer swept the pool with a cleaning pole and found the child at the bottom.  An investigator explained that “everyone kept looking in the pool and didn’t see him, and it was murky and though you thought you saw to the bottom, you didn’t.”  On top of that, the pool did not have working light in the deep end, making it even more difficult to see the Gecari at the bottom.  

As information like this mounts, it becomes clear that this Phoenix apartment pool drowning may have been prevented if those in charging of maintaining the pool had kept it in proper condition.

The condition of the pool is leading many to acknowledge that it shouldn’t even have been open in the first place.  In fact, the pool was previously in violation of Maricopa County pool safety and has a long history of danger.  Only two years ago it was shut down by environmental services.  Last year, the owner of the complex voluntarily closed the pool due to other serious health and safety violations.  Those most recent violations included poor water clarity, algae in the water, fencing problems, no drain covers, and other issues. 

Inspectors had not been back to the site since the last closure in 2010.  It was therefore up to the owner to ensure that the pool was in safe working order before re-opening it.

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