JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The family of a Jacksonville toddler who drowned in a retention pond in October is now suing the Southside apartment complex where it happened, alleging negligence.
Precious memories of 2-year-old Musiq Jordan-Dye are all her family has to hold onto after she was reported missing in October and was later pulled from a pond at the Paradise Island Apartments.
There is a constant ache in Musiq’s family as her mother, Derricka Jordan said she visits Musiq every day. Not at a school or a park, but at the cemetery.
Her family is now suing and said the complex, along Southside Boulevard, just off I-95, has a duty to residents and guests to maintain the pond in a reasonably safe manner.
The family said the complex’s managers and owner didn’t do enough to prevent the little girl’s tragic death.
In their lawsuit, the child’s family said not only was there no gate or fence around the pond, but they said there was a dangerous side slope, which increased the risk of drowning. The complaint says the side slope was steeper than what is legally allowed under statute. Additionally, the lawsuit said the apartments knew of the problems but didn’t address them.
Jacksonville-based attorney Adam Finkle said the apartments didn’t follow the law.
“Drowning prevention requires layers of protection and property owners...are expected and legally bound to make sure that they have their layers of protection in place in order to protect a child from getting access to a body of water,” Finkle said.
Data from the National Drowning Prevention Alliance found that 88% of children drown with at least one adult present. The study said drownings can happen in as fast as 30 seconds and it’s the single leading cause of death for children one to four years old.
Finkle added that pools have barriers and locks around them and asked why can’t retention ponds have something similar.
“They are in a superior position to make sure that all of the children that enter their community are protected from the known risks posed by their retention pond,” Finkle said. “And they ignore it. They have the plants, they are required to have the loss. This family doesn’t have the plants. And this family sure was never warned that they were refusing to follow the law.”
The family went back to the retention pond and laid flowers for Musiq. They said they hope no other family has to experience this and live with the pain that they do.
Musiq is one of several small children who recently drowned in retention ponds around Jacksonville.
Those deaths led to calls for change and prompted a public information campaign.
The city of Jacksonville says there are 235 city-managed retention ponds in Jacksonville, but the vast majority of them are within neighborhoods and are privately owned and maintained by individual homeowners or the Homeowners Association.
The city urges parents and caregivers to keep children supervised, contact the city if they see something in a pond or if they see someone dumping in a pond, or call the city if they see extremely high water levels.
The National Drowning Prevention Alliance gave five steps to ensure child safety in bodies of water:
- They believe open water should be closed in.
- There should be close, competent, and constant adult supervision anytime a child is in the water.
- Know how to swim and enhance those skills.
- The use of life jackets.
- Learn the basic water rescue skills, and have a phone ready to call 911.
Musiq’s family is suing for monetary damages.
Justin Marshall, the chief operating officer of Fogelman Properties, owner of Paradise Island Apartments, released this statement:
“Thank you for providing us with the opportunity to respond. Our sympathies are with the family as they continue to heal from their loss. However, we do not comment on pending litigation, so we are unable to respond to your questions.”
