Owners of Ocean Boulevard hotel pool where child drowned were at fault, lawsuit claims
A New York mother says unsafe conditions caused her 7-year-old daughter to drown in a Myrtle Beach resort pool.
Now, two years after the child’s death, the mom is suing the Crown Reef Resort over her daughters death.
Latoya Fayall filed a lawsuit against the Ocean Boulevard hotel on Wednesday 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.
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.
The lawsuit alleges that there was not a lifeguard on duty or cameras monitoring the pool area. The hotel was negligent and failed to properly secure the pool area, according to the lawsuit.
Messages seeking comment were left with the resort.
In December 2018, Myrtle Beach police charged Fayall with child neglect in connection to the drowning. The charges were later dropped by the Horry County Solicitor’s Office due to a lack of evidence, according to the filing.
Fayall said the arrest was malicious and that it has hurt her reputation and caused emotional distress, the filing claims.
The suit asks for an unspecified amount in damages and a trial by jury.
The hotel has been the site of other drownings. In July, emergency crews responded to a child drowning at the hotel. The child survived. Last year a 4-year-old nearly drowned as the person responsible for her care left her by a pool to smoke a cigarette, authorities said at the time. The woman in charge of watching the child was arrested and charged neglect.
This story was originally published October 31, 2020 at 8:10 AM.
