$4.77M verdict after two children nearly drowned in a motel pool left unlocked overnight

A Hinds County jury returned a $5,614,378 verdict for a family whose two children nearly drowned in the pool of a motel in Jackson where the family was living.

Early one morning in July 2007, the father left the children, ages 8 and 9, in their room while he drove their mother to work, and told them to stay out of the pool. The pool did not open until 9 a.m., but its gate had been left unlocked the night before. A night clerk later said he simply forgot to lock it. The younger child fell in and could not swim. Her brother jumped in to help, and both began to drown. Guests pulled them out and they were revived, but both suffered permanent brain injuries. There was also evidence that a teenager had drowned at the same pool two years earlier.

The motel argued it had no duty to lock the pool after hours and that the father was at fault for leaving the children alone. After an eight-day trial the jury put 85% of the fault on the motel and 15% on the father. The awards were mostly for future care: $3.5 million for one child and $1.5 million for the other, plus medical bills, lost wages, a smaller sum for pain and suffering and $100,000 for the father as a bystander. After the 15% reduction for comparative fault, the judgment came to $4,772,221, the figure shown here.

Because nearly all of the award was economic, Mississippi’s cap on non-economic damages did not come into play. Both sides filed post-trial motions, and the motel deposited the amount of the judgment with the court. We have not found an appellate decision or a report of how the motions were resolved.