Miami Beach reaches $2M settlement with family of rec leader who drowned in city pool
Miami Beach has agreed to pay $2 million to the family of recreation leader Peniel “P.J.” Janvier, who drowned in a city pool in August 2022 in an incident that his family and attorneys have said was the result of supervision failures at the city’s Scott Rakow Youth Center.
The details of the settlement were included in an agenda item for the May 15 meeting of the Miami Beach City Commission, which will need to give final approval to the agreement.
Once the City Commission approves the settlement, the city will pay Janvier’s family an initial $300,000. The remaining $1.7 million must be authorized by the Florida Legislature through a legislative claims bill, a requirement for government liability payments above a $300,000 per incident limit.
“There’s nothing that’s going to bring back P.J. He was an unbelievable young man and did everything right,” said Douglas McCarron, an attorney for the family. “At minimum, this might bring some closure in the sense of this is over.”
A city spokesperson on Thursday declined to comment about the settlement and the findings of a police investigation into the incident.
“While we have a tentative settlement, it is not final and we are unable to provide a comment at this time,” spokesperson Melissa Berthier said.
Janvier, 28, was a recreation leader and football coach for Miami Beach’s Parks and Recreation Department and was playing with kids at the Scott Rakow Youth Center’s outdoor pool on Aug. 16, 2022, the last day of summer camp. Attorneys for the family said Janvier wasn’t working that day but had come to say goodbye to the campers.
McCarron said Janvier, who was not a good swimmer, was pushed into the deep end of the pool by a camper and struggled for 12 minutes as kids attempted to save him before he was pulled out. According to McCarron, video of the incident reveals that an on-duty lifeguard was looking at his phone during much of that time and didn’t appear to notice that Janvier was in distress.
“The video is quite appalling,” McCarron said.
A police report said Janvier, an Army Reserve member, was “observed in distress and after a while several coaches and lifeguards took him out [of] the pool.” He was placed on a ventilator at Mount Sinai hospital, where he died 10 days later.
McCarron said the incident involved multiple violations of city policies, including the lifeguard’s use of a cell phone, a lack of supervision over the lifeguards on duty, and horse-playing by children in the pool.
“It was against everything they had written in their policies and procedures,” he said.
A lifeguard who was on duty when the incident occurred and a part-time city recreation leader were both suspended after the incident. A second lifeguard on the pool deck, who was a seasonal employee, was fired.
City officials said at the time that criminal charges would not be filed after police reviewed the circumstances with the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office.
READ MORE: Two Miami Beach employees suspended, one fired after rec leader drowns at city pool
After Janvier’s death, his family members and attorneys held a press conference outside the youth center to demand answers. Janvier’s mother, Nicole Mathurin, asked members of the public to “please come forward” with any videos, photos or information about the incident.
“My son was a great son,” she said. “He was my eyes, my heart, everything.”
Janvier’s parents sued the city in Miami-Dade Circuit Court in March 2023.
Attorneys for the family said Thursday that Janvier was “loved” in the community.
“This kid should not be forgotten,” said attorney Marc Brumer. “What an amazing role model he was for the community. He was loved by everybody.”
