Some justice is finally being served.
Nearly two years after Naya Rivera sadly passed away, her family has settled a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Ventura County. According to The Blast, a settlement was reached in the suit that was filed by Rivera’s estate and Ryan Dorsey, her ex with whom she shared son Josey, who is now 6.
It is unclear just how much has been agreed upon, but the family seems happy about the result. In a statement on Monday, their lawyer Amjad M. Khan said:
“Through this settlement, Josey will receive just compensation for having to endure the drowning of his beloved mother at Lake Piru. Though the tragic loss of Josey’s mother can never truly be overcome, we are very pleased that the monetary settlement will significantly assist Josey with his life beyond this tragedy.”
The lawyer also noted that the settlement is “subject to approval by the Ventura Superior Court on March 16.”
The family has not yet made their own statement separate from the lawyer’s reveal on the legal update.
In November 2020, Ryan and Rivera’s estate sued Ventura County, California, the county’s Parks and Recreation Management, and the United Water Conservation District for wrongful death and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The Glee star drowned in Lake Piru amid a boat excursion with her son on July 8. According to Dorsey, the boat that the actress rented was not up to US Coast Guard safety standards.
The lake’s “deadly history” was also allegedly not properly noted in the area. The filing claimed that “more than two dozen people have drowned in Lake Piru since 1959,” but that the area lacked warnings about “the lake’s strong currents, low visibility, high winds, changing water depths, underwater caves, ledges and drop offs, or the trees, brush and other debris that congest its waters due to the vastly changing water levels and winds.”
The singer, 33 at the time, was supposedly a “strong” swimmer, but the conditions proved too serious for her to overcome. Ventura County officials did release a statement around the time of the filing to allege that Naya “declined” to wear a life vest before heading out on her excursion. The events that followed would end up haunting the Rivera family for years to come, especially Josey, who was just 4 years old at the time of the tragedy.
The wrongful death documents allege that Josey “managed to get back on the boat by his own volition” after 21 miles per hour winds caused the boat to “be carried away” on that summer afternoon. The filing adds:
“Josey knew Naya was still in the water and heard her cry, ‘Help! Help!’ in her struggle to get back to the boat and avoid drowning. Josey searched in vain for a rope to help his mother get back on the boat. Josey then looked back at the water for his mother and saw that Naya had disappeared. Josey yelled for help and cried alone in the boat until he was found more than an hour later by a PMC boat leasing agent.”
Staff had gone looking for the boat after it was not returned on time. They found it with the boy sleeping inside.
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A search-and-rescue operation quickly began in that area, but by July 9, authorities announced that Rivera was presumed dead and they began a recovery mission instead. She was ultimately found on July 13 and an autopsy ruled the death an accidental drowning. Authorities believe she likely saved her child’s life by putting him back on the boat before she died.
Naya was laid to rest on July 24, 2020, and she has been missed every day since by her family, friends, and Glee co-stars.
Earlier this year, Ryan shared an emotional update after visiting Naya’s grave. Take a look (below).
https://www.instagram.com/p/CYphwIQPQ9W/
A post shared by Ryan Dorsey (@dorseyryan)
So, so sad.
While no amount of money could ever right this terrible wrong, we are glad that Josey will be supported monetarily as he moves forward without his mother, and we hope that this legal development can bring some partial semblance of closure to Rivera’s loved ones in some small way.
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