On Feb. 17, 2013, plaintiffs’ decedent George Sotolongo, 54, a temporarily disabled man, was a resident of an apartment building located at 13460 Prairie Avenue, in Hawthorne, when he drowned in a swimming pool located in the common area of the apartment complex. The decedent’s children, plaintiffs Anthony Childers and Jessica Sotolongo, sued the manager of the apartment complex, Mabry Management Co. Inc., and the owner of the complex, Franklin Dennis Case, individually and as trustee of the F.D. Case Sole Proprietorship and Case Land Partnership (which was initially sued as the “Dennis Case 1987 Trust”). The decedent’s children alleged that the defendants failed to properly maintain the pool area, creating an unsafe condition, and that the defendants were negligent in the handling of the situation. Plaintiffs’ counsel contended that although there were no direct witnesses, it was determined that the decedent tripped and fell over a planter and that when he got up, he was disoriented and fell into the pool. Specifically, counsel contended that the son of the resident property managers, who were employed by Mabry Management, was in the property managers’ apartment when he heard a loud noise, went over to the window, and saw the decedent on the ground, not moving. As a result, the son called the property managers, who were off-site at the time, and asked what he should do. Plaintiffs’ counsel contended that the property managers allegedly told the son that the decedent was probably intoxicated and to leave him there, but that if the decedent was still there after a half hour, then to possibly get help. However, a short time later, the decedent was found to have drowned in the pool. Thus, plaintiffs’ counsel argued that the property managers were negligent in handling the situation when they learned that the decedent was on the ground in a common area and apparently incapacitated and that 911 should have been called. Plaintiffs’ counsel further argued that the decedent died due to the property owner failing to keep the pool being in a safe condition. Specifically, counsel contended that a fence should have been constructed around the pool to prevent drownings or other . Counsel argued that despite the fact that the applicable codes did not require a fence or barrier around the pool, a reasonable property owner and manager would do so to prevent inadvertent entry into the pool by the disabled, incapacitated, elderly, children, etc. Defense counsel noted that at the time of the fatal incident, the decedent was, in fact, intoxicated with alcohol. Blood was withdrawn post-mortem by the coroner’s office and quantitatively analyzed for ethanol. The lowest reading was .40 percent, which is five times the lower legal threshold for driving under the influence. As such, defense counsel argued that the decedent drowned due to his level of intoxication. Counsel also argued that the pool was safe as configured, that the pool was enclosed in the apartment complex, that the pool did not need a fence, and that the pool was up to code and had no violations. According to plaintiffs’ counsel, the defense’s property manager expert opined that there was no obligation for the property managers to do anything, including calling 911. There was testimony that the property managers did call the decedent’s common law wife and left her a voicemail, but the defense’s property manager expert opined that even that was more than the property managers needed to do. The defense’s property manager expert further opined that it would have been well within the standard of care for the on-site property managers to do nothing in the subject scenario, as they were 20 miles away from the property at the time of the incident and that there was nothing they could have done. However, the expert added that if the property managers were at the property at the time of the incident, than they should have done something., George Sotolongo died at the pool as a result of drowning. When his body was found, he had a laceration on his chin and bruises on his chest. In addition, it was later determined that he had suffered a recent subdural hemorrhage. He was 54 years old and was survived by his two adult children. Thus, the decedent’s children, Anthony Childers and Jessica Sotolongo, sought recovery of wrongful death damages for the loss of their father.