SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) -- Attorney Brendan Johnson says the City of Sioux Falls had plenty of notice that a drowning in the early spring, in the icy and foamy waters of the Big Sioux, was likely--again.
The complaint who wrote for his client, Courtney Jayne, mother to five-year-old Maggie Zaiger, who died after slipping into the river at Falls Park, said an eerily similar accident happened in March 2013 under similar circumstances, claiming the lives of two people.
He also points to the 2016 "safety audit" conducted by the South Dakota Assurance Alliance--essentially, the City of Sioux Falls' public insurance company--noting numerous changes in safety barriers and protocols that should have been considered for the city's namesake.
He also says Jayne was anything but a "bad mom" as some have accused on social media. Johnson says a family should be able to go to a Sioux Falls park and not have a family member die during the experience.
Both Johnson and Jayne say money is not the object of the federal lawsuit filed today but to prevent such an accident from happening again. He's not ruling out a settlement or yet proceeding to litigation, whichever serves his client best, Johnson said.
Click the video above to listen to Johnson discuss the case.