Hot Tub Drowning Victim’s Mother Sues

The mother of a 12-year-old girl who drowned when her hair apparently was sucked into the vent of her grandparents’ hot tub in Huntington Beach has filed suit against the makers of the tub and her in-laws.

Sammie Jo Sutton of Houston filed the negligence and wrongful-death suit Thursday in Orange County Superior Court, 11 months after her daughter, Krista Humphrey, drowned while pinned to the bottom of her grandparents’ spa.

The suit seeks unspecified damages from Kathleen and Michael Cazzell and from the former owners of the home, who installed the spa.

The suit also names companies it claims designed, built or installed the spa, including Hydro Air Industries Inc. in Orange, Leisure Time Chemical Corp. in San Clemente and Beachport Spas in San Clemente.

Krista and her parents were visiting last year when her long hair apparently was caught in the suction generated by the single-intake valve, officials said. She was alone in the spa. By the time relatives found her and cut her hair loose, she was unconscious and not breathing, officials said. She died at a hospital.