DATE FILED: July 19, 2018 4:22 PM

DISTRICT COURT, EL PASO COUNTY, COLORADO FILING ID: 2FDECB27B2D7E

CASE NUMBER: 2018CV31540
270 S Tejon St.
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
(719) 452-5000
_______________________________________

Plaintiff: CHEVON PATRICK  COURT USE ONLY 

__________________
Defendants: LYNTHIA WASHINGTON, individually;
and 513 HOTEL OPERATING, LLC, d/b/a Hotel Elegante Case No.: 2018CV31540
Conference & Event Center, a Texas Limited Liability
Company Division: 10
_______________________________________
Attorneys for Plaintiff:
Meredith A. Quinlivan (No. 38016)
West Brown Huntley PC
P.O. Box 588
Breckenridge, CO 80424
Phone Number: (970) 453-2901
E-mail: mquinlivan@westbrown.com
AMENDED COMPLAINT AND JURY DEMAND

COMES NOW the Plaintiff Chevon Patrick, by and through counsel, West Brown
Huntley PC, and for her Amended Complaint against Lynthia Washington, individually,
and 513 Hotel Operating, LLC, d/b/a Hotel Elegante Conference & Event Center, a Texas
Limited Liability Company, states and alleges as follows:

GENERAL ALLEGATIONS

1. This matter is being brought for the wrongful death of Y.P.M., a minor, by
her surviving mother, Chevon Patrick, for recovery of all damages permitted by the
Colorado Wrongful Death Act, C.R.S. 13-21-201, et seq., and otherwise under Colorado
law.

2. Plaintiff Chevon Patrick (“Plaintiff Patrick”) is a Colorado resident with her

primary address at 20000 Mitchell Place, #56, Denver, Colorado 80249.

3. At all times relevant to this Complaint, Defendant Lynthia Washington

(“Defendant Washington”), is a resident of the State of Kansas, believed to reside 6621
SW 40th Street, Topeka, Kansas 66610.

4. At all times relevant hereto, Defendant 513 Hotel Operating, LLC, was a
Texas Limited Liability Company doing business as Hotel Elegante Conference & Event

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Center (“Defendant Hotel Elegante”), with a principal office address at 700 N. Grant
Avenue, Suite 600, Odessa, Texas 79761. Defendant Hotel Elegante may be served with
process by serving its registered agent, The Corporation Company, at 7700 E Arapahoe
Rd Suite 220, Centennial, Colorado 80112-1268, or wherever it may be found.

5. At all times relevant hereto, Defendant Hotel Elegante, operated and

managed the property located at 2886 S Circle Drive, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80906,
known as the Hotel Elegante Conference & Event Center (“the Property”).

6. All events that are relevant to this tort action occurred in Colorado Springs,
El Paso County, and State of Colorado.

7. Venue is proper pursuant to C.R.C.P. 98(c).

8. Plaintiff Patrick is the mother and heir of the decedent, Y.P.M. a minor
(“Y.P.M.”).

9. At all times relevant hereto, Y.P.M. was living with her mother, Plaintiff
Patrick.

10. On or about December 16, 2014, Y.P.M. visited the Property as a guest, with
Defendant Washington and two other minor children, K.W. and J.W.

11. At approximately 8:01 PM, Y.P.M. and K.W. entered the indoor pool area
unaccompanied by Defendant Washington or any other adult.

12. At all times relevant hereto, two entrance and emergency exit points were
chained and padlocked shut.

13. At all times relevant hereto, the indoor pool area was surrounded by natural
vegetation and adjacent to indoor playground equipment.

14. At all times relevant hereto, the indoor pool was designed with a drastic
slope from the shallow end to the deep end, and the transition from the shallow end to
the deep end was signified by blue tiles on the bottom of the pool. However, at all times
pertinent to this Complaint, the indoor pool did not have a rope or other flotation device
separating the shallow end from the deep end.

15. At all times relevant hereto, the indoor pool area was equipped with a
lifeguard chair.

16. At all times relevant hereto, the indoor pool area was equipped with a
telephone and a sign posted for emergencies, call 911.

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 17. At all times relevant hereto, Defendant Hotel Elegante did not employ a
lifeguard to monitor the indoor pool area, but rather employed a pool attendant.

18. At all times relevant hereto, several sets of “Pool Rules” were posted
advising guests that children must be accompanied by an adult. However, the age varied
by sign from 14 years of age to 16 years of age.

19. At all times relevant hereto, Devante Price was employed by Defendant
Hotel Elegante as a pool attendant. Upon information and belief, Price was incompetent,
lacked the training, supervision, experience, knowledge and understanding necessary to
act as a swimming pool attendant. Price witnessed Y.P.M. and K.W. enter the indoor pool
area at approximately 8:01 PM unaccompanied. Price disregarded the minor children
after they had entered the pool area. Price did not stop the minor children from entering
the pool unaccompanied by an adult, nor did he inquire as to the whereabouts of their
parents, guardians or supervising adult.

20. Shortly after entering the indoor pool area, Y.P.M., an inexperienced
swimmer, jumped into the swimming pool at or near the 9 ft. marker. Immediately,
Y.P.M. began struggling, and repeatedly went to the bottom of the pool, then resurfacing,
before going to the bottom of the pool again.

21. At approximately, 8:05 PM, Y.P.M. failed to resurface.

22. At approximately, 8:14 PM, Price was contacted by K.W. seeking assistance
in locating Y.P.M. Price then observed Y.P.M. at the bottom of the pool and immediately
made contact with Candy McCauley, a Hotel Elegante Manager who was at the front desk.
McCauley was advised by Price that a child was drowning in the pool and that the front
desk should call 911. Price did not call 911 from the telephone located inside the indoor
pool area. McCauley responded to the indoor pool area where she assisted Price in pulling
Y.P.M. from the bottom of the pool. Y.P.M. was unresponsive and CPR was initiated by a
fellow hotel guest, Nicholas Cornejo.

23. But for the lack of supervision by Defendant Washington and the willful
disregard by Price and Defendant Hotel Elegante employees for such lack of supervision,
Y.P.M. drowned.

24. All acts or omissions of the employees and/or agents of Defendant Hotel
Elegante were performed in the course and scope of their employment or agency,
rendering Defendant Hotel Elegante liable for all such acts and/or omissions under the
law or respondeat superior, employment, agency, or otherwise.

25. As a direct, proximate, and foreseeable result of the Defendant Hotel

Elegante’s wrongful acts and omissions, neglect and/or default, which resulted in Y.P.M.’s

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death, Plaintiff Patrick has suffered noneconomic losses for wrongful death, for which
recovery is sought pursuant to C.R.S. § 13-21 -201, et seq. and Colorado law. Such
damages include, by way of description and, without limitation, grief, loss of
companionship, impairment of the quality of life, inconvenience, pain and suffering, and
emotional stress, all in an amount to be proven at trial. Plaintiff Patrick is further entitled
to recover and seek recovery for economic losses for wrongful death and personal injuries
to the extent permitted by C.R.S. § 13-21-201, et seq. and Colorado law, including, but not
limited to, medical, hospital and related expenses; funeral, burial, interment, or
cremation expenses; and other permitted economic and compensatory damages, all in an
amount to be proven at trial.

FIRST CLAIM FOR RELIEF

(Premises Liability)

26. All prior allegations are incorporated herein as if set forth verbatim.

27. Defendant Hotel Elegante was at all times pertinent to this Complaint
“landowners” as defined in the Premises Liability Act, C.R.S. § 13-21-115 (“PLA”).

28. At all times pertinent to this Complaint, Defendant Hotel Elegante was the
owner and operator of the Property where Y.P.M. drowned, and owed non-delegable
duties to Plaintiff and Y.P.M. Such duties included, but were not limited to, the duty to
maintain the Property in a safe condition, to warn of potential hazards, to make the
premises safe, to take proper precautions to prevent access to the indoor swimming pool
by unaccompanied children, and to design or maintain the indoor pool with a gradual
decline from the shallow end to the deep end or install a rope or floatation device at or
near the drop off.

29. At all times pertinent to this Complaint, Y.P.M. was a guest at Hotel
Elegante.

30. At all times pertinent to this Complaint, Y.P.M. was an invitee, as that term
is defined by the PLA at Hotel Elegante.

31. At all times pertinent to this Complaint, the areas and grounds containing
the pool at Hotel Elegante, including the indoor swimming pool where Y.P.M. drowned,
constituted “common areas.”

32. At all times pertinent to this Complaint, Defendant Hotel Elegante had the
right to control the common areas where Y.P.M. drowned.

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 33. At all times pertinent to this Complaint, Defendant Hotel Elegante had the
duty to control the common areas where Y.P.M. drowned so that guests would not be
exposed to unreasonably dangerous conditions.

34. When Y.P.M. entered the indoor swimming pool area where she died,
Defendant Hotel Elegante owed Y.P.M. the duties that a “landowner” owes an “invitee”
under the PLA.

35. The indoor pool where Y.P.M. drowned, including the condition it was in at
the time of Y.P.M.’s death, constituted an unreasonably dangerous condition under the
PLA. This condition was particularly dangerous for children such as Y.P.M.

36. The pool where Y.P.M. drowned was, at all times pertinent to this
Complaint, an attractive nuisance.

37. Defendant Hotel Elegante knew or should have known that the indoor
swimming pool area, in its condition at the time of Y.P.M.’s death, constituted a
dangerous condition at all times relevant hereto.

38. The indoor swimming pool where Y.P.M. drowned had a steep drop off from
the shallow end to the deep end that was not made safe, and which constituted an
unreasonably dangerous condition under the PLA. This condition was particularly
dangerous for children such as Y.P.M.

39. Defendant Hotel Elegante knew or should have known that the steep drop
off from the shallow end to the deep end constituted an unreasonably dangerous
condition. Furthermore, the failure to signify the deep end of the pool with a rope or other
flotation device created an unreasonably dangerous condition under the PLA. This
condition was particularly dangerous for children such as Y.P.M.

40. The chained and padlocked emergency exits created an unreasonably

dangerous condition under the PLA, as they prevented guests and employees from timely
responding to the drowning of Y.P.M. on December 16, 2017.

41. Defendant Hotel Elegante failed to take steps to prevent child drownings by
failing to enforce the “Pool Rules” regarding unsupervised minors under the age of 14 or
16. These steps could have and should have included, but are not limited to, the Hotel
Elegante pool attendant, Price, refusing entrance to the pool when he saw Y.P.M. and
K.W. arrive at and enter the swimming pool unaccompanied by an adult.

42. Defendant Hotel Elegante unreasonably failed to adequately warn its guests
and Y.P.M. of the potential dangers of the indoor swimming pool at the Property.

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 43. Defendant Hotel Elegante knew or should have known of the dangers of the
indoor swimming pool on the Property.

44. As a direct, proximate, and foreseeable result of Defendant Hotel Elegante’s

wrongful acts and omissions, neglect and/or default, which resulted in Y.P.M.’s death,
Plaintiff Patrick has suffered noneconomic losses for wrongful death, for which recovery
is sought pursuant to C.R.S. § 13-21-201, et seq. and Colorado law. Such damages include,
by way of description and not limitation, grief, loss of companionship, impairment of the
quality of life, inconvenience, pain, and suffering, and emotional stress, all in an amount
to be proven at trial. Plaintiff Patrick is further entitled to recover and seek recovery for
economic losses for wrongful death and personal injuries to the extent permitted by C.R.S.
§ 13-21-201, et seq. and Colorado law, including, but not limited to medical, hospital, and
related expenses; funeral, burial, interment, or cremation expenses; and other permitted
economic and compensatory damages, all in an amount to be proven at trial.

SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION

(Negligence)

45. All prior allegations are incorporated herein as if set forth verbatim.

46. Defendant Washington failed to act as a reasonably careful person would

under the same or similar circumstances by allowing Y.P.M. and K.W. to go the indoor
swimming pool unsupervised.

47. Defendant Washington owed duties to Plaintiff Patrick and Y.P.M. and did
breach those duties by failing to supervise and accompany Y.P.M. to the indoor swimming
pool.

48. As a direct, proximate, and foreseeable result of Defendant Washington’s

wrongful acts and omissions, neglect and/or default, which resulted in Y.P.M.’s death,
Plaintiff Patrick has suffered noneconomic losses for wrongful death, for which recovery
is sought pursuant to C.R.S. § 13-21-201, et seq. and Colorado law. Such damages include,
by way of description and not limitation, grief, loss of companionship, impairment of the
quality of life, inconvenience, pain, and suffering, and emotional stress, all in an amount
to be proven at trial. Plaintiff Patrick is further entitled to recover and seek recovery for
economic losses for wrongful death and personal injuries to the extent permitted by C.R.S.
§ 13-21-201, et seq. and Colorado law, including, but not limited to medical, hospital, and
related expenses; funeral, burial, interment, or cremation expenses; and other permitted
economic and compensatory damages, all in an amount to be proven at trial.

THIRD CAUSE OF ACTION

(Negligence per se)

49. All prior allegations are incorporated herein as if set forth verbatim.

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 50. On December 16, 2017, the following statutes, C.R.S. § 18-6-401 of the State
of Colorado, were in effect. (Child Abuse (Negligence) Resulting in Death).

51. A person commits child abuse if such person causes an injury to a child’s
life or health, or permits a child to be unreasonably placed in a situation that poses a
threat of injury to the child s life or health, or engages in a continued pattern of conduct
that results in malnourishment, lack of proper medical care, cruel punishment,
mistreatment, or an accumulation of injuries that ultimately results in the death of a child
or serious bodily injury to a child.

52. Defendant Washington permitted Y.P.M. and K.W. to enter the indoor
swimming pool unaccompanied by an adult and failed to inquire about Y.P.M.’s level of
swimming capabilities, thus placing her life and health in grave danger. Defendant
Washington acted in violation of C.R.S. § 18-6-401.

53. Y.P.M. was a member of the group of persons that the statutes were
intended to protect; and the purpose of the statutes was to protect against the type of
injuries and losses Y.P.M. sustained.

54. The above-described actions of Defendant Washington constitute

negligence per se.

55. As a direct, proximate, and foreseeable result of Defendant Washington’s

wrongful acts and omissions, neglect and/or default, which resulted in Y.P.M. s death,
Plaintiff Patrick has suffered noneconomic losses for wrongful death, for which recovery
is sought pursuant to C.R.S. § 13-21-201, et seq. and Colorado law. Such damages include,
by way of description and not limitation, grief, loss of companionship, impairment of the
quality of life, inconvenience, pain, and suffering, and emotional stress, all in an amount
to be proven at trial. Plaintiff Patrick is further entitled to recover and seek recovery for
economic losses for wrongful death and personal injuries to the extent permitted by C.R.S.
§ 13-21-201, et seq. and Colorado law, including, but not limited to medical, hospital, and
related expenses; funeral, burial, interment, or cremation expenses; and other permitted
economic and compensatory damages, all in an amount to be proven at trial.

PRAYER FOR RELIEF

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff Patrick prays that this Court enter judgment in favor of
Plaintiff and against all Defendants for all past and future damages as permitted by law
in wrongful death and survival actions, including without limitation as follows:

I. Noneconomic losses for wrongful death and personal injuries as

permitted by C.R.S. §§ 13-21-201, et seq. and Colorado law, including without
limitation, grief, loss of companionship, impairment of the quality of life,

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 inconvenience, pain and suffering, and emotional stress, all in an amount to be
proven at trial;

II. Economic losses for wrongful death and personal injuries as

permitted by C.R.S. §§ 13-21-201, et seq. and Colorado law, including, but not
limited to: medical, hospital and related expenses; funeral, burial, interment, or
cremation expenses; and other economic and compensatory damages, all in an
amount to be proven at trial;

III. On election, if chosen at a later date, solatium damages;

IV. Damages for those the Plaintiff represents by law, as set forth above,
in the amount provided by law;

V. Pre- and post-judgment interest; and

VI. All costs, expenses, expert witness fees and costs, and attorney fees
to the extent permitted by law, and such other and further relief as this Court may
deem just and proper.

PLAINTIFF DEMANDS THAT ALL MATTERS SO TRIABLE BE HEARD AND

DECIDED BY A JURY OF THEIR PEERS.

Dated: July 19, 2018. Respectfully Submitted,

WEST BROWN HUNTLEY PC

s/ Meredith A. Quinlivan
By:
Meredith A. Quinlivan (No. 38016)

Plaintiff’s Address:
Chevon Patrick
20000 Mitchell Place, #56
Denver, CO 80249

In accordance with C.R.C.P. 121 § 1-26(7), a printed copy of this document with original
signature(s) is maintained by West Brown Huntley PC, and will be made available for
inspection by other parties or the Court upon request.

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