The widow of a 32-year-old Bonita Springs, Fla., man who drowned two years ago when his lawn mower flipped into an East Naples homeowner’s lake is suing the lawn service that employed him and the property owner.
Tomasa Castro filed a wrongful death lawsuit, alleging that Tom Mahoney, who operates Tom Mahoney Ultimate Lawn Service, was negligent for asking José Carillo, who couldn’t swim, to cut the lawn along a deep lake behind Scott Jensen’s home at 54 Liberty Lane on May 21, 2006.
The lawsuit was filed May 21, the day the statute of limitations ended, in Collier Circuit Court. The case is assigned to Collier Circuit Judge Cynthia Ellis.
A Collier County Sheriff’s Office report at the time said that Mahoney went to the site to check on four workers doing lawns in the area. Mahoney was talking to Jensen when he noticed he couldn’t hear the lawn mower. When he walked to the back yard to check on Carillo, the report said, he saw his hat floating in the lake.
After calling for help, Mahoney took off his shirt and boots and dove into the water. He found Carillo’s body about 10 to 15 feet offshore. Emergency workers later pronounced him dead; he had no visible signs of injury and his brother, Javier Carillo, who also was working for Mahoney, told deputies he was in good health.
Carillo, who had worked for the lawn service about five years, left behind four children, Marcos Antonio, now 15; José Miguel, 3; and Josue Jeremia, 2.
Carillo’s attorney, Frank DePeña of Fort Myers, declined comment on the pending litigation. A woman answering Mahoney’s phone said Mahoney had no comment. Jensen couldn’t be reached for comment.
The lawsuit alleges:
Mahoney ascertained that Carillo couldn’t swim and failed to adequately train him on how to operate a riding lawn mower in close proximity to water, how to prevent it from tipping over, and did not provide him with adequate safety equipment, such as a flotation device or life jacket.
Mahoney also didn’t provide Carillo with worker’s compensation insurance.
Jensen knew or should have known that a dangerous condition existed due to the water and that the water depth was deceptive: there was a sudden drop-off, currents, the water was murky, the bottom was not stable, and wouldn’t stand the weight of a person standing. As a result, someone like Carillo riding at the edge could fall in and drown — and neither Mahoney nor Jensen warned Carillo about that condition.
The lawsuit seeks compensation for lost earnings, funeral expenses, pain and suffering, mental anguish, lost companionship, lost support and services, lost guidance and protection for the children. It also seeks damages for net prospective accumulations, the disposable property that Carillo could have been expected to accumulate during his normal lifetime.