Drowning and Tommy Lee

by Megan
(Nevada)

Tommy Lee was found not guilty of negligence in the suit filed by German actress Ursula Karven-Veres and television producer James Veres. Their four year old son had attended a birthday party at Tommy’s house. The boy drowned in the middle of a party, in a yard full of people.

It was a birthday party for Tommy Lee’s five year old son. Both of the boys had nannies that were in charge of them. Daniel drowned on June 16, 2001.

Daniel’s nanny had left him playing in the shallow end of the pool while she took some other children to the restroom. There were 15 kids at this party. Daniel slipped underwater and drowned in plain view of at least 10 adults that were nearby and many of the kids.

The suit itself claimed that Tommy Lee should have hired a lifeguard to watch the kids at this swimming party. The court decided that a lifeguard is above and beyond the responsibility of a home owner and that the death was an accident.

I fully agree with the verdict in this case. The part that I find the most newsworthy is that a child can drown while surrounded by that many people. We all expect lots of splashing and screaming for help when someone is drowning. That is not the case most of the time. Children tend to slip underwater and their struggles are silent. Their movements resemble that of swimming and there are no sounds or cries of distress. That is how a child can drown at a party surrounded by other people.