Jupiter fountain electrocution: Family of man who died saving kids sues Harbourside Place

JUPITER — The family of Nate Davenport has filed a lawsuit against Harbourside Place, seeking damages after his electrocution Oct. 22 in the fountain of the waterfront restaurant-and-retail complex.

Harbourside Place was negligent when it allowed broken lights inside the fountain to leak electrical voltage into the fountain pools that day, the lawsuit claims. The 45-year-old Jupiter father of four had jumped into the fountain trying to save his children from electrical shocks.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, Dec. 27 by attorney Scott B. Smith of Palm Beach Gardens, claims that Harbourside Place’s owners created an attractive nuisance and “should have known of the dangerous and unsafe condition” at the fountain.

It goes on to say that Harbourside Place failed to install a ground fault circuit interrupter, or GFCI, for the fountain, its lights and its electrical systems. GFCIs stop current that is too low or too high.

Harbourside Place in Jupiter denies knowing fountain was damaged

The lawsuit seeks more than $50,000 in damages and claims emotional distress was inflicted on Nate Davenport’s wife, Amy, and their children.

Barry A. Postman of West Palm Beach, the attorney representing Harbourside Place, said that the complex’s owners were completely unaware of any problem with the fountain before the incident.

“Our first concern continues to be with the family as they go through and deal with this tragic loss,” said Postman in a prepared statement provided by Harbourside Place. “We know how tough this tragedy is for this beautiful family and we pray for them during this time.

"Had Harbourside known there was an issue they would have moved immediately to fix it. Harbourside had no knowledge whatsoever that there was any problem with the fountain. We are confident that the true facts will become known during the legal process.”

'A brother to everybody': Friends recall Nate Davenport, who died saving kids in Jupiter fountain

Amy Davenport and her children “continue to endure excruciating pain, grief, sorrow, anguish and distress from the sudden, unexpected and tragic loss of their beloved husband and father, Nate Davenport,” Smith wrote in a statement.

The lawsuit, he said, "is another significant step forward in the process of discovering and learning how and why this terribly dangerous and concealed condition was created and allowed to exist amongst all of us here in our community,” the statement reads.

“It is brutally painful for Amy and the kids that this invisible hidden trap caused injury to the children and took the precious, courageous, immense and exemplary life of Nate when he, Amy and the four kids had such a bright, expansive and beautiful future ahead of them."

Nate Davenport dived into fountain to save children from electrical shock

Nate Davenport and a friend had taken some of their children to Harbourside Place on the afternoon of Oct. 22. Three of the children began to play in the splash area and fountain at the north end of the complex at Indiantown Road and U.S. 1.

One of the children fell while in the water just before 3:30 p.m, according to a police report.

When the kids screamed from the water, Davenport jumped in without hesitation and threw the kids out of the fountain. Then he fell over.

Davenport was in the water only about 30 seconds before he felt an electrical current go through his body, according to the police report. He lost consciousness, never regained it and was pronounced dead at Jupiter Medical Center. One other child felt a shock in one of his legs. The third never felt a shock.

His friend, Seth Kozak, got in the water to help Davenport but felt a shock, and then another one as he reached to help his child.

One of the children helped Kozak from the water then he pulled Davenport out and began performing CPR until police and Palm Beach County Fire Rescue arrived.

The children were treated at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach, where paramedics took them as trauma patients. Kozak also was treated at the hospital.

Signs posted near the fountain said swimming was not permitted.

Palm Beach Gardens woman recalls her fountain shock in July

Just 15 weeks before Davenport’s electrocution, Dina Fleck of Palm Beach Gardens said she felt an electrical shock from the Harbourside Place fountain when she let its water run over her hand to cool off on the hot summer day.

An electric current had run through her arm.

She said she tried to tell a Harbourside Place employee about the problem, but he “dismissed it and didn’t believe” her.

“I was stunned by the shock. It was a strong tingling sensation in my hand that went up to my arm and lasted for a couple of minutes afterward,” Fleck said. “It was an intense tingling feeling.”

When she told her friends what happened, they, too, felt the water and said they received shocks. They were also shocked by the water coming up from the splash pad and the coverings around its spigots.

Fleck said that the electric current from the fountain was much stronger than the splash pad. She said she noticed multiple electrical wires sticking up out of the fountain that day.

“There was an electric current in literally every part of that splash pad and fountain area," she said.

Smith said in early November that other people have come forward to report shocks from the fountain that they felt before the deadly Oct. 22 incident.

Nate Davenport remembered as a family man, Navy veteran

Friends described Nate Davenport as "the quintessential family man."

“Everything Nate did was to try and make his family better,” said Scott Gorman, who met Davenport at Jupiter Middle School, played football with him at Jupiter High School, attended Florida State University with him and counted him a friend nearly 40 years later.

“He was just such a good person. He was like a brother to everybody.”

Davenport was president of RGD Consulting Engineers, a company based in Jupiter that his father, Robert, founded in 1988. Prior to that, he was a Navy fighter pilot who served overseas in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He entered the Navy after graduating from FSU, fulfilling a goal he'd had since his freshman year at Jupiter High, Gorman said.

After leaving the Navy, he earned a master's in business and finance at the University of Miami in 2011.

John Rourke served in the Army at the same time that Davenport served in the Navy. The two met when they attended Jupiter High but became better friends in their adult years.

They spoke over the phone each week — sometimes three or four times — for the past three years. They had long conversations about parenting, politics and war stories. Rourke said Davenport also loved fishing and boating, often taking Davenport's boat down to the Florida Keys.

“Any time I saw a call from Nate, I knew that we were going to set aside at least 30 minutes to talk,” said Rourke, who lives in Palm City. “He was just one of those guys that kept the conversation going. I’m really going to miss our honest conversations.”

Maya Washburn covers northern Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida-Network. Reach her at mwashburn@pbpost.com. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Family of Nate Davenport electrocuted in fountain sues complex owners