East Brunswick Sued Over Death Of Teen Who Fell Through Ice

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ — The Township has been sued for negligence by the father of a teen who died after falling through ice and drowning two years ago.

Earlier this week, Eshak Khela filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Township at the Superior Court in Middlesex County.

On Jan. 22, 2020, 13-year-old Yousef Khela died after he and two friends fell into a partially frozen pond, near East Brunswick Civic Center. While the two boys were able to pull themselves out, Yousef slipped under the ice before help could arrive. Read More: Teen boy dies in East Brunswick After Falling Through Ice

In his lawsuit, Khela alleges that there were no warning signs, barriers, fencing, or other protective measures in place to dissuade the public from walking on the frozen pond.

Additionally, the lawsuit also alleges that East Brunswick police officers standing outside the headquarters saw Yousef and his friends walking on the frozen pond and shouted to draw their attention “instead of walking or running to the children or dispatching police personnel to the pond in order to remove the boys from the ice-covered pond, make sure they were safe.” Khela said the officers “did nothing, turned their backs and walked back inside a door to police headquarters.”

The family is seeking “compensatory damages pursuant to New Jersey’s Wrongful Death and Survivorship Acts, along with interest, costs of suit, and for such further relief.”

Yousef was an eighth-grader at Churchill Junior High School. He and two other friends were visiting the Volunteer and Veterans Park when he fell through ice.

On Jan. 22, at 4:55 p.m., police were called to the pond and when they got there, two of the boys were able to pull themselves out, but Yousef remained in the water. Arriving officers immediately formed a chain and entered the pond, but he slipped under the ice before they could reach him.

East Brunswick firefighters arrived and, working with police, were able to recover Yousef from the pond. He was given CPR and rushed in critical condition to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:45 p.m., police said.

According to the Middlesex County Medical Examiner, the cause of Yousef’s death was drowning with hypothermia, the lawsuit said.

Following the incident, six officers and two firefighters were treated for hypothermia, including three who had to be taken to the hospital.

In New Jersey, the statute of limitations for filing a wrongful death lawsuit is two years.

Thank you for reading. Have a correction or news tip? Email sarah.salvadore@patch.com

Get breaking news alerts on your phone with our app. Download here. Sign up to get Patch emails so you don't miss out on local and statewide news.