Family of child killed by amoeba: Arlington splash pad protocols more important than money
The City of Arlington paid the most it is legally allowed to in its settlement with the family of Bakari Williams, the 3-year-old killed by a brain-eating amoeba contracted at a city splash pad, the family’s lawyers said.
Bakari died Sept. 11, 2021, of primary amebic meningoencephalitis, a rare and highly fatal central nervous system disease caused by the parasitic amoeba Naegleria fowleri. It’s less formally referred to as a brain-eating amoeba.
The city announced his death Sept. 27, 2021, after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention detected positive cases in water samples collected from the splash pad. The city also announced officials were reviewing park maintenance procedures after finding gaps in water quality documentation.
Bakari’s family filed a lawsuit against the city, seeking $1 million in damages. The city is only allowed under Texas law to pay out up to $250,000, but the family said the new steps taken to prevent another death like this were the main goal.
“Bakari was a sweet, beautiful and innocent child. He did not deserve to die in the manner that he did,” Kayla Mitchell, Bakari’s mother, said at a news conference Thursday. “For us, this case has been about public awareness. We want to make certain that nothing like this happens again. We want to make certain that what happened to our son, our family, does not happen again.”
The new “Bakari Williams Protocol,” which the city council approved with the lawsuit, will require more training for city employees, technological measures to test water and prevent such amoebas from growing in water in the future, a QR code visitors can scan to get real-time information on water quality at aquatic facilities in the city and a requirement to share training and lessons learned with other cities.
“I have faith in what we were able to create, but obviously I’m still nervous, still scared, still kinda skeptical about myself, my son, my nieces and nephews, said Tariq Williams, Bakari’s father, at the news conference about the protocols and his comfort with going to places like pools or splash pads in the future.
“But that’s not something that’s specific to Arlington. At this point I’m nervous of water period. But that’s something we all should have. It’s like you said, nobody should have to bury their child before them.”