A woman is suing a Mexican resort for over $1 million in damages, alleging her husband was electrocuted and drowned in a jacuzzi at the resort.
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A Texas woman is seeking over $1 million in damages, saying she watched her husband get electrocuted and then drown while in a hot tub during a family vacation in Mexico.
In a wrongful-death lawsuit filed in El Paso County District Court in Texas, first published by Inside Edition, Lizzette Zambrano accused three companies associated with the Sonoran Sea Resort of negligence.
It follows the death of her husband, Jorge Guillen, on June 11, 2024, while they were on holiday at the resort in Sonora, northern Mexico.
According to the lawsuit, Guillen stepped into the hot tub and was immediately "exposed to an electrical current in the water," causing him to keel over and become submerged.
The lawsuit said that Zambrano tried to grab her husband from the water but she was also electrocuted and fell into the jacuzzi.
According to the lawsuit, another guest managed to pull Zambrano out, but attempts to get Guillen, using a shepherd's cross and other items, were unsuccessful.
"The metal from the objects carried the electrical current and began shocking the rescuers," the lawsuit said.
Zambrano claims in the lawsuit that resort staff did not try to engage the emergency shutoff for the jacuzzi or try to rescue her or her husband.
Guillen died of drowning, the lawsuit said, while Zambrano was hospitalized but survived the incident.
According to the lawsuit, the defendants showed negligence by not providing warnings about faulty jacuzzi wiring, and breached their duty of care by failing to keep the resort reasonably safe.
A spokesperson for Casago, the vacation rental company that manages the resort, told BI by email: "We are devastated by what has occurred, and our hearts are with the family and the victims of this terrible incident."
The spokesperson added that the resort is a condo resort, and the homeowners association is responsible for the common areas, including maintenance of the pools and hot tubs.
"Regarding this incident, our involvement ends at the individual condo reservation," they said.
Guillen is described in the lawsuit as "an industrious, affectionate, loving, compassionate, energetic, cooperative, patient, and attentive father."
The couple's family has raised more than $55,000 on a GoFundMe campaign, which says it is fundraising to bring Guillen's body home and to cover Zambrano's medical expenses.
At the time of writing, the Sonoran Sea Resort's website includes a note indicating that the swimming pools and jacuzzis are temporarily closed.
