US: Tragic death of 8-year-old boy in Houston hotel swimming pool leads to lawsuit

Police in Houston are investigating the death of an 8-year-old girl whose body was found inside a large pipe in a lazy river at a Houston hotel where she was swimming with her family.

Aliyah Jacko’s death Saturday was ruled an accidental drowning by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. It said he died from drowning and mechanical asphyxiation, when an object or physical force prevents someone from breathing. His autopsy report is pending. Police said the girl was found “inside a large pipe in the pool area” and was pronounced dead by paramedics.

On Monday, his mother, Jose Daniela Jaico Ahumada, filed a lawsuit against the hotel, alleging that the child was pulled into an unsecured hole in the pool’s flow system that was 12 inches (30 centimeters) by 16 inches (40 centimeters). ) was wide. “They had to break up concrete, cut pipes to get him out, it was absolutely horrible,” his mother’s attorney, Richard Nava, said at a news conference Tuesday.

The family was staying at the DoubleTree by Hilton Houston Brookhollow, which is named as a defendant in the lawsuit along with Hilton Worldwide Holdings. A spokesperson for Hilton said they were deeply saddened by the girl’s death and added that the property is independently owned and operated by a third party. The spokesperson said no lawsuit has been filed against Hilton and he does not comment on pending litigation.

A Hilton spokeswoman said the law office representing the hotel’s ownership did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Ahumada said in the lawsuit that she rented the room so her family could enjoy a day of swimming, an activity Aliyah loved.