The last photograph ever taken of 1-year-old Nico Carter showed the “hidden” danger he was in moments before falling nine stories from a balcony in Mexico.
The boy is seen standing next to a sliding glass door overlooking a Puerto Vallarta beach, with one foot dangling over the edge of a narrow balcony, in a photo included in his parents’ new wrongful death lawsuit against Hyatt Hotels.
To his right, a floor-level window panel was missing under a railing, with no cones, warnings or caution tape to alert his parents, James Carter and Anastacia Duboshina, of the danger.
The sliding door seemed to partially block the balcony, but left enough room for the child to pass through.
“Because the panels are clear, it was not possible for the Carters to visibly discern that one of the panels was missing,” says their federal lawsuit accusing Hyatt of negligence and misconduct.
“The danger was invisible.”
The last photo ever taken of Nico Carter shows him stepping out onto a narrow balcony where a pane of glass was missing. KFMB-TV Nico’s parents, James Carter and Anastacia Duboshina, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Hyatt Hotels. KFMB-TV
The lawsuit claims that Nico was playing on the ninth-floor balcony on October 11, 2021, when he slid through the missing glass panel at the Hyatt Ziva Puerto Vallarta.
“Nico was standing right in front of me. You couldn’t see that a glass panel was missing. I watched my son die in front of me,” his grieving father told CBS 8.
Meanwhile, Duboshina was packing snacks for the family when she heard her husband scream in terror.
“Anastacia walked out the hotel room door to let James and Nico know she was ready, when she suddenly heard a horrible scream from her husband,” the lawsuit states.
“Nico had gone out onto the balcony between the open sliding door and the portion of the railing with the panel missing, and had sunk more than 100 feet to a concrete deck area.”
“My world shattered in a second,” Duboshina said. KFMB-TV
“In a split second, my life went from everything to nothing,” Duboshina said of the heartbreaking moment.
“My world shattered in a second,” he told the San Diego Union-Tribune.
He said Nico’s death was “so absurd and completely avoidable,” while Carter explained that they purposely decided to stay at a Hyatt hotel because of its reputation for being a safe, family-friendly environment.
“We booked our hotel to stay at Hyatt and we booked Hyatt because we thought there would be some safety standards there, you know?” she told CBS 8.
“They preach and promote a family-friendly, safety-oriented hotel and the last thing you expect is for a glass to be missing from the ninth floor balcony window.”
Nico Carter died abruptly in Mexico just weeks before his second birthday. KFMB-TV’s grieving mother described her son as “the best thing that ever happened to me, the sweetest child who ever lived.”
The couple say they now want justice for their son’s untimely death, which occurred just weeks before his second birthday. They are asking for an unspecified amount in damages.
“We want them to take responsibility for what they have done,” Duboshina said. “Because no parent should have to go through what we are going through. “It’s so painful.”
He added that he hopes the hotel industry takes the lawsuit seriously as a warning to ensure safety measures in hotels.
“I hope, perhaps, by filing this lawsuit, if we prevent the death of another child, the mission will be accomplished; “Our son did not die in vain,” he said, describing Nico as “the best thing that ever happened to me, the sweetest child who ever lived.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for Hyatt Hotels said: “While it is our policy not to comment on potential or pending litigation, Hyatt has worked closely with Playa Hotels & Resorts, the operator of Hyatt Ziva Puerto Vallarta, in an effort to ensure an investigation complete and transparent since this tragedy occurred in October 2021.
“The safety of our guests remains our top priority and our hearts remain with the family after this unimaginable loss.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn