Mom Suing Over Death of 8-Year-Old Daughter Found Dead Inside Houston Hotel Pool Pipe
Aliyah Lynette Jaico has been identified as the girl who was found dead at the DoubleTree by Hilton on Northwest Freeway on Saturday
The mother of the 8-year-old girl who died in a Houston hotel pool has filed a wrongful death lawsuit less than a week after her daughter’s death.
Aliyah Lynette Jaico has been identified as the girl who was found dead inside a hotel pool's drain pipe at the DoubleTree by Hilton on Northwest Freeway, on Saturday.
The girls’ mom, Jose Daniela Jaico Ahumada, is seeking more than $1 million in damages following their daughter’s “tragic and untimely death,” according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE.
"We’re seeking justice for Aliyah because this could’ve been avoidable. Everybody knows this could’ve been avoidable," claimed Richard Nava, an attorney representing Aliyah’s mother, per FOX affiliate KRIV.
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According to the court documents, the family “rented a room” at the hotel’s Houston Brookhollow location on March 23 “to enjoy a day of swimming.”
Aliyah, identified in the papers as A.L.J., “was swimming with her family” around 4:50 p.m. local time that day when, according to the complaint, she was allegedly “violently sucked into a 12 to 16 inch unsecured open gap in the swimming pool flow system of the hotel’s lazy river.”
The mom “frantically” searched for her daughter before asking hotel management to look at video surveillance footage around 5:20 p.m., per the court documents. However, according to the complaint, her request was allegedly denied by hotel management, which “explained that police would have to be present to view the video surveillance.”
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Aliyah was reported missing at about 5:45 p.m., and a search was subsequently launched.
A team later found Aliyah’s body was later found “wedged in the pipes” using video cameras attached to 20-foot poles, per the complaint, which claims “malfunctioning pool equipment” is to blame.
Justin Martinez, a lawyer with Nava Law Group, which currently represents Aliyah’s parents, tells PEOPLE his team is planning to file an amended petition to secure the site with a temporary restraining order “to ensure nothing on the site is compromised.”
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In a statement shared with PEOPLE on Monday, a spokesperson for Hilton said the property is independently owned and operated by a third party, adding that it “does not own, manage, or control the day-to-day operations of the property and does not employ any of the property's staff or its third-party operators.”
"We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of a young girl at the DoubleTree by Hilton Houston Brookhollow and offer our sincere condolences to her family and loved ones," the spokesperson said, noting that they have not been served with any lawsuit.
In a separate statement, Unique Crown Hospitality, which owns and operates the hotel, said they are "deeply saddened by the tragic loss of a young girl at our hotel on Saturday evening."
"We offer our sincere and deepest condolences to her family and loved ones at this difficult time. Our commitment to providing a safe and secure environment for our guests is paramount and we will continue to cooperate fully with all authorities investigating this incident," their statement read. "Due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, we cannot provide further comment.”
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