Mom cuffed after child drowned in hotel pool. Now she’s suing Myrtle Beach over her arrest.
A New York mother says police were malicious and negligent when they charged her with child neglect when her 7-year-old daughter drowned in a Myrtle Beach resort pool.
Now, two years after the child’s death, the mom is suing the city over her arrest.
Latoya Fayall filed a lawsuit against the city of Myrtle Beach on Tuesday in Horry County Court.
In August 2018, Fayall and about 60 friends and family met at the Crown Reef Resort on Ocean Boulevard for a week-long vacation, according to the lawsuit.
Fayall took her children to the pool, including 7-year-old Malazya, according to the suit. The pool was 4 feet deep and Malazya was more than 4 feet tall.
There was a live DJ and alcohol was being served, but Fayall was not drinking, the suit states. There was no lifeguard on duty or cameras monitoring the pool area.
The mom asked her 19-year-old daughter to watch Malazya, and suddenly the 7-year-old drowned in the hotel’s pool, according to the suit.
In December 2018, Myrtle Beach police charged Fayall with child neglect in connection to the drowning. She faced the charges for six months, until May 2019 when the 15th Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office dropped the charges because of a lack of evidence, according to the filing.
Fayall calls her arrest malicious and negligent. She said police lacked probable cause when they charged her. The arrest has hurt her reputation and caused emotional distress, the filing claims.
The suit asks for an unspecified amount of money.
Myrtle Beach spokesman Mark Kruea said the city does not typically comment on pending lawsuits.
