A San Diego civil jury found in favor of the city of San Diego on Thursday in a wrongful death trial stemming from the drowning of an 18-year-old man swept out to sea at Mission Beach nearly three years ago. Attorneys representing the family of Woodlain Zachee Prudhomme alleged that on June 14, 2022 , a city lifeguard told the teen and his girlfriend to move out of an area where they were safely in waist-deep water and toward an area where a rip current was known to be. Prudhomme, who was at the beach with friends one day after graduating from Crawford High School, suddenly found himself sinking beneath the water after he walked into both the rip current and an inshore hole, according to the family’s attorneys. He was able to push his girlfriend to safety before he was pulled under the waters and disappeared. His body was discovered more than six months later north of Mission Beach. Attorneys for the city of San Diego argued that what occurred was “a tragic accident,” but said Prudhomme’s limited swimming capabilities were a major contributing factor in his death. They also argued that the alleged interaction between Prudhomme and lifeguard Mason DeRieux never occurred. The Prudhomme family’s attorneys had asked jurors to award his parents more than $17 million in damages, but after about a day of deliberations, the jury ruled that the city, through its employee, DeRieux, was not negligent. Domenic Martini, one of the attorneys representing Prudhomme’s family, said after the verdict that the attorneys would discuss the next steps with the Prudhomme family, including the possibility of an appeal. In closing arguments earlier this week, Jacqueline McQuarrie, a deputy city attorney with the city, argued Prudhomme’s girlfriend was the only person to claim that she and Prudhomme were directed by DeRieux to move toward lifeguard Tower 16, where Prudhomme was ultimately pulled beneath the waters. McQuarrie said the young woman didn’t tell anyone about the apparent lifeguard interaction until weeks after the drowning, and the attorney said her claim was inconsistent with city lifeguard training and other eyewitness accounts. For DeRieux to direct the teens to move to a dangerous portion of the water “flies in the face of common sense,” the attorney argued. Martini argued Prudhomme’s girlfriend was a credible witness and said the teens would not have moved toward Tower 16 unless instructed. He also said the warning signs and flags posted by the city were insufficient and didn’t specifically denote where the rip currents were situated. Prudhomme’s family had recently moved to San Diego from Venezuela. He was survived by his parents and his twin brother, Woodley, who also attended Crawford High.   ...read more read less