Pool Drowning

Published on: August 22, 2024

Girl, 3, drowned at Miami-Dade County Park in Hialeah over the weekend.

A 3-year-old drowned Saturday in a lake at the Amelia Earhart Park in Hialeah after she was separated from her family member, police say.

Alarm bells were sounded when the family member told park rangers they could not find the little girl. Park officials began searching and found the child’s body in one of the five lakes on the 515-acre property. Emergency responders took the child to Palmetto General Hospital where she later died.

In May, Miami-Dade County unveiled new enhancement plans for the park, including a new recreation center with a pool and splash pad.

Published on: July 11, 2024

Man’s drowning Monday at Orlando resort marks the second incident in just as many months at that location.

By Leesfield & Partners

A 51-year-old man who drowned Monday at Discovery Cove in Orlando is the second person to die after swimming in the property’s pool.

Emergency responders were called out to the resort, a theme park promising interactive activities with marine animals, for a call about a man who was found unresponsive in the pool. The man, who was reportedly a guest at the resort, was rushed to the hospital in critical condition but died later that night.

Just two months before on May 28, a 13-year-old girl was also found unresponsive in the pool at Discovery Cove, according to local reporting. The girl died at the hospital a day later.

Published on: July 2, 2024

Police investigating after 5-year-old drowned in Miami-Dade pool. What to know to stay safe in the water this summer

By Leesfield & Partners

A 5-year-old boy died Thursday night after drowning in the backyard pool of a home in Miami-Dade County, according to reporting from The Miami Herald.

Emergency responders were called out to the home, located on the 14800 block of SW 168th Terrace, just before 8 p.m. Thursday. The boy was taken to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital for emergency treatment but was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Additional details were not immediately available Friday. The incident is under investigation by the Miami-Dade Homicide Detectives.

Published on: June 7, 2024

Police investigate after 8-year-old drowned in neighbor’s Fort Lauderdale pool. These incidents on the rise, the CDC says.

By Leesfield & Partners

While packing a cooler with juice boxes on the way to the community pool, racking their brains to recall if they remembered the sunscreen, drowning is the last thing a parent wants to think about. But, according to the latest available data from the CDC, they should.

In its latest report on accident drownings in the United States, the Center for Disease Control reported that these incidents are on the rise. About 4,500 people drowned in the United States from 2020 through 2022, an increase of approximately 500 people per year since 2019, the numbers show. The CDC pits drowning as the leading cause of death for children ranging in age from 1 to 4 years old. The rate of drowning increased 28% from 2019 and 19% in adults from 65 to 74 years old.

Broward County Incident

Published on: January 16, 2024

Lawsuit filed against AirBnb and Homeowner in pool drowning case

By Leesfield & Partners

In 2022, the 2-year-old child of our clients drowned in the swimming pool of a Central Florida house the family rented on AirBnb’s platform. It took less than a minute before she was pulled out unconscious, and despite the medical team’s every effort to keep her alive, she tragically died weeks later. The investigation revealed that the house was not equipped with a compliant child safety fence, and as a result, Leesfield & Partners attorneys filed a lawsuit against multiple parties, including the owner of the home located in Osceola County and AirBnb.

In the recent past, Leesfield & Partners has litigated several pool drowning cases with liabilities resting on property owners, pool contractors, and property managing companies. In one South Florida case that resulted in the drowning of a toddler, Ira Leesfield and attorneys at the firm were able to secure a seven-figure settlement against multiple defendants for the inadequate installation of a defective pool fence.

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