Glee star Naya Rivera’s tragic passing in July this year sent shockwaves around the world. The actor rented out a boat with her five-year-old son Josey Hollis Dorsey in California’s Lake Piru. The cause of her demise was accidental drowning. Four months on, and a lawsuit has now been filed over her death.
According to various media outlets, Naya’s former spouse, Ryan Dorsey, filed a wrongful death lawsuit earlier this week on behalf of Josey, which claims that Ventura County (where Lake Piru is located) is responsible for her death because the boat that she and their child were on that day didn’t comply with safety standards.
In the documents, which were filed by Ryan’s lawyer on Tuesday, he claims that the boat Naya rented out was in violation of the laws for the state of California. “The boat was not equipped with a safely accessible ladder, adequate rope, an anchor, a radio or any security mechanisms to prevent swimmers from being separated from their boats, nor any flotation or lifesaving devices,” read an excerpt from Ryan’s statement.
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In the suit, Ryan mentioned that the boat drifted away from Naya and Josey after they jumped into the lake to go swimming. He added that proper safety measures could have prevented that from happening and would have helped Naya return to the boat safely. Naya went missing on July 8, after she rented the boat intending take her son swimming, but later that same day, the boat was found with her son safe and sleeping inside, while she was nowhere to be found. Following several days of searching and sleepless nights for Naya’s family, she was presumed dead, until her body was eventually found in the northeastern portion of the lake on July 13.