IRVINE : Fountain Death Case Is Settled, Lawyer Says

The family of a 4-year-old boy who was killed when part of a concrete fountain fell on him settled a wrongful death lawsuit against two companies Monday for $975,000, their lawyer said.

The settlement between the family of John Dutriz and Lloyd’s Nursery and Landscape Co. and Santi’s Fountains came moments before the start of a scheduled Orange County Superior Court trial, attorney Thierry Colaw said.

Representatives of the companies could not be reached for comment.

The boy was playing an Easter Egg game with his 7-year-old sister and a young friend in May, 1991, when part of a heavy, three-tier fountain in the back yard of his family’s Irvine home fell on him. The boy was apparently trying to retrieve a ball that had landed in the fountain when he was crushed by the two top sections of the fountain, Colaw said.

The boy died in the arms of his mother who, except for special occasions, didn’t even keep water in the fountain because she was afraid the children could drown in it, Colaw said.

The family contended in the lawsuit that the installer and manufacturer of the fountain failed to take steps necessary to properly secure the tiers to prevent them from falling, Colaw said.

“This was an issue of consumer safety,” he said.