Aliyah Lynette Jaico, inset, and the lazy river pool at the DoubleTree by Hilton Houston Brookhollow (KRIV screenshots)
One of the management companies of the Texas hotel where an 8-year-old girl was sucked into a swimming pool pipe and killed earlier this year has denied responsibility in the child’s death, instead laying blame on the victim’s family.
In response to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Aliyah Lynette Jaico in March, Northwest Hospitality Services, LLC, one of the named defendants in the suit, replied by claiming that Aliyah’s parents were responsible for her death on March 23, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Houston Brookhollow.
“Northwest asserts that Plaintiffs engaged in negligent acts and/or omissions that proximately caused the alleged injuries and damages,” the company wrote in court documents filed in Harris County Court.
Essentially, the management company asserts that the actions of Aliyah’s parents — or their failure to act — is what caused Aliyah’s death.
According to the complaint, Aliyah at about 4:50 p.m. was swimming with her family when she “suddenly disappeared” from the lazy river. After searching for about 30 minutes, Aliyah’s mother had hotel security review surveillance footage, but the staff allegedly refused to do so without the police present. Police were called at about 5:45 p.m. to continue the search for Aliyah.
After police were allowed to review the security footage, it was discovered that Aliyah “went underwater and never emerged,” the lawsuit said.
“A team was then put together to drain the pool and video cameras were attached to 20-foot poles to inspect the pipes when her body was discovered wedged in the pipes of the malfunctioning pool equipment,” the complaint continued.
It took approximately 13 hours for authorities to get into the pipe and recover Aliyah’s body.
Aliyah’s family alleged that her death was the “direct result” of the defendant’s negligence and the dangerous condition on their commercial property, reasoning that through the exercise of “ordinary care,” the establishment should have known about the problem with the pool that resulted in Aliyah’s death.
The Houston Health Department performed an inspection of the pool after Aliyah’s death and identified several violations. Most notably, the inspector found that the pipe in which Aliyah was pulled from had apparently been malfunctioning by sucking in water when it should have been pushing out water.
The response from Northwest is similar to the response previously filed by co-defendant Unique Crowne Hospitality (UCH), the local operator of the DoubleTree by Hilton.
“UCH asserts that Plaintiffs engaged in negligent acts and/or omissions that proximately caused the alleged injuries and damages,” UCH wrote in their response to the suit in April. “UCH seeks a reduction of any damages that may be awarded against it by the percentage of responsibility found by the jury as to Plaintiffs, settling parties, responsible third parties, and/or anyone else.”
Attorney Richard Nava, who is representing the family in the action, previously told Houston NBC affiliate KPRC that such a response was “unfortunate.”
“Given the sensitive nature of this case it is unfortunate that Hilton and the Franchisee are alleging contribution,” Nava told the station. “My client is distraught and this only deepens her suffering. We look forward to our day in court and it will be shown exactly how easily this could’ve been prevented and Aliyah would still be with us.”
While denying responsibility is a standard response in the early stages of a civil lawsuit, it can still backfire. Last month, American Airlines issued an apology after attorneys representing the airline responded to a lawsuit claiming that a 9-year-old girl who was allegedly filmed in the airline bathroom should have known she was being spied on. American Airlines later amended the response, saying that the filing was done by outside legal counsel hired by their insurance company.
The next hearing in the case is currently scheduled to take place on Aug. 22, 2024. A trial is scheduled to begin on Aug. 11, 2025,
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