Family of mom, daughter who drowned in Fort Worth culvert demand answers in lawsuit
The family of a woman and her 2-year-old daughter who drowned in a flooded culvert in September 2018 are demanding answers in a lawsuit against the city of Fort Worth, the Texas Department of Transportation and the owners of the property where the two died.
Jessica Romero, 18, and 2-year-old daughter, Llaylanii, died when their car was swept off an access road near East Loop 820 South and into a culvert during a downpour. The culvert was on the property of Whiz-Q Stone, which is listed as a defendant in the suit.
Romero’s mother, Soledad Romero, and Llaylanii’s dad, Jessi Fabila, filed the lawsuit in Tarrant County District Court on Tuesday. They are requesting a trial by jury and hoping the lawsuit will give them the answers — and accountability — they’ve been seeking since Jessica Romero and Llaylanni’s deaths.
The family’s attorney, Shelly Greco, said the family tried to resolve the matter outside of court, but the city and TxDOT continued to shirk responsibility for the defective culvert.
“These were young lives that were tragically cut short unnecessarily,” Greco said. “They paid the ultimate price for someone else’s decision or lack of actions.”
In December 2018, a Star-Telegram investigation found that part of the culvert was filled in and replaced with an underground pipe that was too small. The construction on the culvert was performed without permits from the city of Fort Worth or the Texas Department of Transportation, the investigation found. No one has admitted responsibility for the work.
Whiz-Q Stone did not respond to requests to comment. Fort Worth city officials and TxDOT said they do not comment on pending litigation.
‘They need answers’
Sometime between 2001 and 2005, part of the culvert was filled in and replaced with an underground pipe that was too small, which caused water to back up and created a 15-foot-deep pool of rushing water.
The culvert was flagged as a safety concern in a 2016 report by engineering consultants hired by Fort Worth to evaluate drainage systems around Lake Arlington. The report suggested improvements, but no work was done because the culvert was not the city’s responsibility, and the city did not tell TxDOT, which has an easement for the culvert, about the report until after the drownings.
“People allowed it to happen; it was permitted to happen,” Greco said. “We haven’t been successful in getting anyone who wants to give answers or take responsibility. Hopefully we’ll be able to get answers through the deposition of this lawsuit.”
Whiz-Q Stone owns the property the culvert is located on, but the president of the company said that the work on the culvert was done by the previous owner of the property.
Lawhon Inc. owned the property during the time period when the culvert was modified. Charles Lawhon, president of Lawhon Inc., initially told the Star-Telegram in December 2018 that he did not know anything about changes made to the culvert, but said it is possible the work was done without his knowledge.
TxDOT installed a guardrail at the spot where Jessica Romero and her daughter died. Greco said the family was glad that step was taken, but it isn’t enough.
“At least something was done to try and protect other people initially,” Greco said. “But past that, what have they done with the studies that show that area and potentially others as dangerous? We want there to be real accountability.”
Fort Worth has identified 300 places where flash flooding can rapidly overwhelm a street and create a dangerous situation.
A little more than 100 of those spots have been deemed critical, but the city only has the funding to address about 40 through 2025.
The location where Jessica Romero and her daughter drowned is not highlighted in the city’s list of dangerous locations because the Texas Department of Transportation owns the right-of-way.
Soledad Romero, Jessica Romero’s mother, told the Star-Telegram in December that the city needs to do more than fix 40 dangerous locations, calling it “not enough.”
“Is it going to cost another life a year from now?” she asked at the time. “What happens if someone dies at a spot they think isn’t critical now? I don’t know why they wouldn’t just fix everything.”
Greco said the family is still grieving Jessica Romero, who wanted to become a pediatric nurse, and Llaylanii, who loved the movie “Moana” and was always trying to hug strangers.
“I don’t know how you get over the death of a child. They’re dealing with it day by day,” Greco said. “Oftentimes when dealing with families who have suffered the loss of a loved one, they need answers.”
The National Weather Service estimated that 5-6 inches of rain fell within two to three hours in the area where Romero and her daughter died. Fort Worth firefighters and Arlington police reported more than 50 high-water rescues that day.
