Murrieta Drowning Victim's Family Suing School District

MURRIETA, CA — A lawsuit was filed against the Murrieta Valley Unified School District this week by the family of 13-year-old Alex Pierce, who died in June following an accident at an end-of-the-year school swim party, court records show.

Records obtained by Murrieta Patch indicate the suit was filed Monday. The plaintiffs in the case are Sabrina and Rodriquez Pierce, Alex's parents, who are being represented by the Los Angeles County law firm Panish, Shea & Boyle LLP.

"This wrongful death case stems from a senseless tragedy that could have been avoided," the case complaint begins.

According to police and school officials, Alex Pierce was first hospitalized on June 3, after he was pulled from the bottom of the swimming pool at Vista Murrieta High School, where he and approximately 100 other band and choir students were attending an "end-of-the-year" party.

He was underwater for approximately 95 seconds before he was rescued, police reported.

"There was no evidence of horseplay going on and nothing inappropriate was observed," Murrieta Police Capt. Dennis Vrooman said following the incident. "According to the surveillance footage, it appears the student may have unintentionally floated to a deeper end of the pool where he could no longer stand up."

Attorneys say there were not enough staffers at the pool to supervise the party for the amount of middle school band and choir members in attendance.

"These students, including Alex Pierce, were under the immediate and direct supervision of an inadequate number of representatives/agents/employees of Murrieta Valley Unified School District who lacked the requisite experience to supervise the pool area and to render aid to young swimmers in emergency situations," the lawsuit states.

What's more, the suit alleges that it was not a lifeguard or other staff that eventually pulled Alex to the surface, but fellow students. In total, the boy went without oxygen for approximately nine minutes, according to the complaint.

Here is an excerpt from the complaint further detailing the incident and allegations:

"Because the Murrieta Valley high school student lifeguards and/or other school district faculty and
personnel refused to engage in any rescue efforts, Alex's classmates made efforts to retrieve Alex from the
bottom of the pool.

None of the lifeguards or other school district faculty and personnel dove into the water to help Alex. The lifeguards on the scene also did not perform CPR on Alex.

According to the Murrieta Police Department's investigation, Alex was without oxygen for approximately nine minutes. And, according to the authorities, had CPR been administered to Alex immediately, there would have been a greater likelihood of Alex recovering.

After the paramedics arrived, Alex was taken to a nearby hospital and, due to the severity of his injuries, was then airlifted to another major hospital. Alex was put on life support and remained in a coma until July 7, 2016 when he was declared brain dead following a final test by doctors at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego."

The complaint indicates that the Pierce family is seeking general damages for their loss, as well as special damages — also known as economic damages — to cover things like medical and funeral expenses.

Sabrina Pierce told the Press Enterprise in a statement that her boy was failed "so many times" by "so many people."

"Not only do we want justice for our son but we want to prevent this from happening to any other child and family," she said.

School district officials could not be reached for comment Thursday but have previously expressed their sorrow for the situation.

"Our thoughts & prayers go out to Dorothy McElhinney MS 7th grader Alex Pierce and his family, friends & the DMMS community!" officials wrote on Facebook the day after the incident.

Records show there is a case management conference hearing for this case scheduled for March 13.

Handout photo