The story of the lifeguard prosecuted for the death of a child in the Popular Forest

THE HOMELAND | MANIZALES

January 7, 2016 is a date that brings drama and tragedy for two families. One, that of Samuel Sánchez Galvis, 9 years old, who drowned in the school pool of the Aquatic Complex of the El Prado Popular Forest, Manizales. The other, that of the lifeguard who was working at the site that day and whom the Prosecutor’s Office summoned yesterday to a hearing to charge him with charges for the alleged crime of manslaughter.

The history of the process

1. The boy was out for a walk in Manizales, at the Fair, according to his father, José Marino, who lives in Bogotá. Some relatives called him to give Samuel permission to go to the Forest, with several minors.
2. Three adults left for the complex: Samuel, a two-year-old baby, a 16-year-old minor and some girls aged 6, 7 and 8. After lunch they went into the pool.
3. Everything was developing normally. Marleny, one of the adults, began taking photos and videos. There she realized that she did not see Samuel. He asked about him and when he turned around he saw some people carrying a fainted child. It was Samuel. They tried to revive him and took him to the San Marcel clinic, where he was admitted without vital signs. The ruling was drowning by immersion.
4. The prosecutor explained that the technical inspection report from that day indicated that the pool had three points with different depths: 1.65, 1.40 and 1.10. The demarcation and signage on this was regular and unclear, there was no safety mesh around the poolno monitoring by cameras and a float was 4 meters from the edge. There was a lifeguard service, but it was not known if they were there that afternoon or not.
5. It was established, based on information from the father, that the minor did not know how to swim. The pool was under a loan contract between the Mayor’s Office and the ICTM and there was another between the municipality and Impacto Recreación. “They were in full Fair, there were about 200 people in that place, so an attentive and attentive lifeguard was required. The accused today was hired for that work, but he did not do what he was supposed to do and that omission caused the death of Samuel, who entered the adult pool. The accused did not control that source of risk, he did not took actions as guarantor,” explained the accusing body.
6. They accused him of manslaughter and They spoke of a sentence of 32 to 108 months, which could be reduced to 16 if he accepted the accusations, but he did not do so. “I prefer to go to trial,” he answered.

An administrative court ordered the Mayor’s Office to compensate the family, but the decision is under appeal.