A lawsuit has been filed alleging negligence against a homeowner and construction company after a 4-year-old Johnsburg boy drowned in a home pool near Richmond.
The incident happened around 7:40 p.m. on August 6, 2022, in the 10000 block of Keystone Road in unincorporated Richmond.
Richmond Township Fire Protection District Fire Marshal Scott Peterson said at the time that fire crews arrived to find a pediatric patient who was out of the water.
The child was unresponsive and bystanders were performing CPR.
One of Mercyhealth’s emergency field vehicles — called MD-1 — was called to the scene to help treat the victim.
The resuscitative efforts at the scene by bystanders and paramedics were successful, Peterson said.
Paramedics transported the child with MD-1 on board to Northwestern Medicine Hospital in McHenry.
The child, identified by the medical examiner as Grayson Vingan, 4, of Johnsburg, was later transported by a medical helicopter to Advocate Children’s Hospital in Park Ridge.
Vingan was in critical condition and later pronounced dead in the afternoon on August 8, 2022, the medical examiner’s office said.
“Grayson was always talking, cracking jokes, and just trying to make everyone smile. He had the most infectious laugh you ever heard and he always made the people around him smile and laugh too. His love for dinosaurs, playing outside, and playing with his brothers will continue to live on without him,” Megan Mills, a family member, said at the time.
A wrongful death lawsuit was filed in McHenry County Circuit Court late last month, court records show.
The suit, filed by the boy’s mother Caley Vingan, named Blake Domanico, Sarah Svoboda and Lakeside Landscape Construction as defendants.
The lawsuit said Domanico invited the 4-year-old boy, numerous other children and adults to his home to use their swimming pool on the day of the incident.
The suit alleges Domanico did not obtain a permit or have the design and construction of the deck and pool walkway inspected and approved by the local municipality.
The lawsuit said Domanico placed a large black storage tote next to the deck of the pool and pool wall that allowed children access to the deck and swimming pool, in part leading to the boy’s drowning.
The suit also alleges that Domanico failed to monitor and control the premises after having invited children to use his swimming pool.
The mother is seeking an unspecified amount of money to be awarded by the court but asked for an amount “in excess” of the jurisdictional limits, plus the costs of the lawsuit.
The suit said Domanico was a manager and agent of Lakeside Landscape Construction, one of the named defendants.
Lakeside Landscape Construction designed and constructed the pool decking and a walkway on the home’s property but did not obtain a permit or have their plans approved by the local municipality, the lawsuit alleged.