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\u201cShe was a baby who could bring the darkness out of somebody,\u201d White said. \u201cWhenever I ask for a kiss she\u2019ll come up to me and go\u2026\u201d she said, pausing to demonstrate the gesture her daughter used to make.<\/p>\n
Melani drowned in September 2024 after wandering away from her family\u2019s home at the Bennett Creek Apartments in Jacksonville, according to police and family members.<\/p>\n
White says her daughter, who had autism and was nonverbal, left the apartment after opening the front door. The family says the lock on the apartment door was broken.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now, nearly two years later and during National Water Safety Month, White said she wants families, apartment communities and property owners to think differently about the dangers retention ponds can pose, especially to children.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to see this happen to any other families,\u201d White said. \u201cIt could happen to anyone. I don\u2019t want it to happen to anyone else. This should be the last problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
White is calling for additional safety measures around retention ponds, including fencing, saying she worries when she sees children playing near the water.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t make me feel good at all,\u201d White said. \u201cIt would make me feel a lot better if there was a fence around it. They play football, they play soccer, there\u2019s so much that could happen. It\u2019s an accident that literally could just happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her attorney, Adam Finkel, said the concern goes beyond one apartment complex.<\/p>\n
\u201cSummer is around the corner,\u201d Finkel said. \u201cChildren are going to be running around this complex and every other apartment complex throughout Jacksonville that has a retention pond.\u201d<\/p>\n
The family filed a lawsuit on June 17, 2025, against the owners and managers of Bennett Creek Apartments, alleging negligence contributed to Melani\u2019s death.<\/p>\n
The defendants named in the lawsuit are Bowden Road Housing, Ltd., which allegedly owned, managed and operated Bennett Creek Apartments; Richman Property Services, Inc., which allegedly managed and operated the property; and The Lake Doctors, Inc., described in court filings as the aquatic expert servicing the retention pond.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit was filed by Melani\u2019s great-grandmother, Frankie Washington, and Robert Hines, acting as co-personal representatives.<\/p>\n
Court filings accuse the defendants of failing to maintain a safe property, including allegations that the retention pond was unsecured, inadequately monitored, noncompliant with safety regulations and featured dangerous side slopes that increased drowning risks. The complaint also alleges inspection failures, warning residents of dangers and maintaining the pond according to approved standards. The family also alleges the apartment\u2019s front door lock was broken, allowing the toddler to leave the residence.<\/p>\n
The family is seeking more than $50,000 in damages, including compensation for the mother\u2019s past and future mental pain and suffering, funeral expenses and medical care rendered to the child.<\/p>\n
The plaintiffs are requesting a jury trial.<\/p>\n
First Coast News\u00a0reached out to the defendants for comment but had not received a response before publication. We will continue to keep you updated. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Jacksonville mother who lost her toddler in a retention pond drowning in 2024 is urging stronger retention…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":285457,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-285456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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