Drowned teen's family files suit for $10 million

The family of a 13-year-old Baltimore boy who drowned while swimming in Prettyboy Reservoir last summer has filed a $10 million wrongful death and survival action against The Salvation Army and the Boys Home Society of Baltimore Inc.

The complaint by mother Westilia Graham, sister LaToya Richardson and brother Ronald Richardson Jr. alleges that The Salvation Army - which maintains Camp Puh'tok in Monkton - failed to take steps to protect camper Albert Davon Richardson, and that the breach of that duty caused his death.

The Salvation Army either knew or should have known, that swimming in nearby Prettyboy Reservoir was a highly dangerous activity for young, inexperienced campers, such as Decedent Richardson, and that any swimming in that area of Prettyboy Reservoir was unlawful, the complaint alleges.

Both corporate defendants, the plaintiffs contend, had actual and/ or constructive knowledge of the dangers of swimming in the reservoir owing to visible warning signs; failed to adopt appropriate safety measures and procedures; and failed to adequately supervise counselors and campers.

Richardson, a resident of the Boys Home - a group home for troubled, nonviolent children in Baltimore City - was attending a session of the camp last summer when he decided to go swimming in the reservoir with 10 other boys. The teen-ager disappeared on the afternoon of Aug. 8, 2003; his body was discovered in the water by police the following morning.

A spokeswoman for The Salvation Army declined to comment on the litigation. An attorney for Boys Home did not return a telephone call for comment.

Camp Puh'tok, founded in 1942, is a rustic, traditional camp designed to teach campers about life in our country as it was once lived, according to the camp's Web site.

Towson attorney Margaret M. McKee, who in 2002 won a $760,000 verdict for the family of a woman who drowned in the Beaver Dam quarry, said causation is always an issue in these types of cases.

You have to show standards were not met, and as a result, the person drowned, she said, adding that her case involved lifeguards who failed to act after a 24-year-old captain of the swim team went missing in the waters of the quarry. We had to put on credible evidence that if they had reacted they would have found her.

McKee was unconnected with the present case but noted that a natural setting tends to complicate matters.

In a pool, all you have to do is look at the bottom, she said.

It was not clear from the complaint in this case whether the camp counselors knew the boys had gone swimming or how, precisely, they reacted.

Counsel for the plaintiffs did not return a phone call for comment by press time.

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