Jan 9, 2009 8:06 pm US/Central
Father Of Drowning Victim Sues School, Camp
CHICAGO (STNG) ―
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Jimmy Avant, 18, was one of three North Lawndale Prep High School who were killed when a paddleboat sunk in the Fox River.
Chicago Sun-Times
The father of a North Lawndale College Prep student who drowned after rushing into the Fox River in an attempt to rescue students from a capsized paddleboat during a leadership retreat in November has filed a wrongful death lawsuit claiming negligence against the school and the camp he was attending.
The suit marks the second filed by a parent of a Chicago Public Schools student following the drowning deaths of three students on Nov. 14.
Leonard Avant filed a suit Friday in Cook County Circuit Court accusing VisionQuest Association, which organized the leadership retreat at Camp Algonquin, the YMCA of McHenry County and North Lawndale College Prep of negligence.
The bodies of 17-year-old Melvin Choice, 18-year-old Jimmy Avant and 16-year-old Adrian Jones – all from Chicago – were recovered on Friday, November 14, according to McHenry County Coroner Marlene A Lantz. All three were pronounced dead on the scene, she said.
The suit claims Jimmy Avant saw the capsized paddle boat in the river, rushed into the water and drowned as he attempted to rescue his fellow students.
The teens were attending Camp Algonquin, 1889 Cary Rd., a YMCA campsite, for a leadership seminar geared to upperclassmen, according to Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Fire Protection District Battalion Chief John Greene, who said the teens had been at the campsite with other students for eight days.
At least one of the teens presumably took the paddleboat from the campsite and boarded it in the river, Greene said. Since the paddleboat was winterized – meaning the plug preventing water from entering the bottom was removed – the craft sank.
The suit claims Jimmy Avant and his fellow students were not aware that the floor plugs were removed and claims there was no indication or warning posted regarding the removal of the plugs.
The suit also asserts the school failed to properly chaperone the trip and should have provided better supervision of the students.
The eight-count suit seeks more than $50,000 in damages.
Virginia Choice, mother of Melvin Choice, filed a wrongful death suit on Nov. 19 seeking restitution for her son's death.
(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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