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Los Angeles, March 7 (EFE) .- The family of actress Naya Rivera, who drowned in a California lake in 2020, reached an agreement to conclude the lawsuit filed against Ventura County for the death of the star of the series “Glee”, reported local media.
Rivera’s ex-husband, Ryan Dorsey, filed the legal complaint against Ventura County (California) for involuntary manslaughter, arguing that there were no signs warning of the dangerous conditions on the lake where she drowned and that the boat the artist rented lacked proper safety equipment.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the couple’s young son, Josey Hollis Dorsey, who was with the actress in the lake when the Latina drowned. The legal action names Ventura County and the area Water Management District, which regulates Lake Piru, where the artist lost her life on July 8, 2020.
Amjad M. Khan, a lawyer for the family, confirmed that all parties “have reached a global agreement”, pending the approval of a judge in California on March 16.
“Through this settlement, Josey will receive fair compensation for having to endure the drowning of his beloved mother in Lake Piru,” Khan said in a statement.
He added that although the boy will not be able to recover from the loss of his mother, the monetary settlement will significantly help him with his life beyond this tragedy.
The 33-year-old actress rented a pleasure boat with her 4-year-old son in the early afternoon of July 8 but. When neither of them returned, a second boat located the minor alone and asleep on the boat with a life jacket.
According to a Ventura County investigative report, the actress jumped in with her son for a swim, but Rivera drowned after giving one last push to help her son into the boat.
Court documents reveal that as the mother and son swam, the boat began to drift away, “probably because of the current and the wind,” in a day that had gusts of up to 21 miles (37 kilometers) per hour.
The actress cried out for help multiple times and “Josey searched in vain for a rope to help her mother back onto the boat,” the lawsuit alleged. “Then Josey looked out into the water for her mother and saw that Naya had disappeared.”
The body of the actress was recovered after five days of searching.
The security cameras of Lake Piru, a 500-hectare reservoir, recorded the moment in which the mother and son went sailing in the boat, something that Rivera had done before, according to the Police.
The lawsuit argued that Lake Piru’s management failed to warn the public about its dangers.
Despite the vast expanse of the lake’s recreation area, “there is not a single sign warning of strong currents, low visibility, strong winds, changing water depths, underwater caves, ledges and drop-offs, or the trees, brush and other debris that congest its waters,” the lawsuit stated.
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