Blog Post

Swimming Pool Accident Victim's Parents File Lawsuit Against Hotel


May 06, 2008
Topic: Swimming Pool Accidents

The family of a 5-year-old boy, who drowned in a swimming pool accident at a hotel in Omaha, is suing the hotel management for the wrongful death of their son.

Brian Guevara drowned in the murky black waters of the pool at the Howard Johnson hotel on June 19, 2006. The family had checked in, planning to spend half the day at the zoo and half at the hotel's swimming pool. The surveillance camera at the hotel, which the plaintiff's lawyers plan to use as an important piece of evidence of the swimming pool accident, shows Brian swimming in the pool, and then disappearing. From the surveillance video, in the few minutes that it took for him to slip beneath the surface and the moment his body was dragged out of the pool, you couldn't even see Brains' body lying at the bottom. The water was that dirty. There were others swimming in the pool with Brian who did not notice the swimming pool accident or even see the boy at the bottom of the pool. The lawsuit alleges that had visibility been clearer, Brian would have gotten the help he needed faster and could have survived.

The hotel had been accused of such negligent behavior several years ago in an eerily similar swimming pool accident, which occurred in the same pool, where again one person drowned. The plaintiff's attorney can be expected to bring up that point. After Brian's death, an inspector ordered the pool closed until several defects, which could cause swimming pool accidents, were fixed. These include reinstalling a safety device that had become faulty and cleaning the murky water. Also, a filtering device that is supposed to clean the water was also asked to be repaired. The inspection report also ordered for a pool operator to be on hand when the pool was in use.

For the parents of Brian Guevara, the safety measures have come too late. There is simply no excuse for a pool to be as dirty as it was on the day of the swimming pool accident. The fact that bystanders standing at the pool's edge and swimmers inside the pool couldn't see Brian's body lying at the bottom could tell you of how bad the water was. There seems to have been appalling neglect on the part of the hotel management, which has so far refused to comment on the lawsuit. Brian's parents wasted valuable time looking all over the hotel for their son when they couldn't find him around the pool. With cleaner water in the pool, it is highly likely that someone would have spotted the little boy at the bottom of the pool as soon as he began to drown.

We hope this swimming pool accident raises the bar for safety standards to prevent more accidents. We also hope Brian's family can win the compensation for their suffering.

If you have been injured in a swimming pool accident, you need the help of an experienced California personal injury lawyer. Contact an attorney at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.


The California personal injury attorneys at The Reeves Law Group represent victims of accidents, injuries and wrongful death throughout California from our offices in Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Diego County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, Ventura County, Fresno County, Kern County, Sacramento County, San Fernando Valley, Long Beach, Antelope Valley, Torrance, Glendale, Bakersfield, Santa Ana, San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, Ontario, and Victorville.