Scuba school that let 12-year-old girl drown was 'fine' with annual student 'kill count' lawsuit says

The parents of a 12-year-old miss who drowned astatine a scuba grooming installation successful northbound Texas are suing the organizations and radical who were tasked with keeping her safe, alleging their negligence caused her death.

The 41-page wrongful decease lawsuit takes purpose astatine respective aspects of the scuba operation, which Dylan Harrison was participating successful erstwhile she died. As the filing puts it, not lone were the employees supervising the grooming and their overseeing agencies negligent successful their duties, but determination existed a civilization of being "fine" if idiosyncratic were to dice connected their watch.

The communicative began connected July 12, 2025, erstwhile Dylan's parents bought her an entry-level "Open Water Private Class" and scuba cogwheel astatine a concern called Scubatoys successful Carrollton, Texas, according to the suit. The intent was for her to get a National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI) Open Water diving certification truthful she could scuba dive with her family.

The lawsuit notes that Dylan was "small successful stature," weighing little than 78 pounds and lasting 4 feet, 10 inches tall, but they "relied connected NAUI and Scubatoys' representations that a 12-year aged girl, similar D.H., could implicit the people safely." Roughly a period later, Dylan and her parents arrived astatine Scubatoys to statesman her grooming with a "NAUI-certified Instructor," and astatine the extremity of the session, they were told to spell to The Scuba Ranch successful Terrell, Texas, "to proceed D.H.'s acquisition successful a lake."

The suit maintains that the instructions fixed to Dylan were insufficient and that she was not provided with the due instrumentality students request "to guarantee their ain information if they are separated from an teacher underwater."

On Aug. 16, 2025, Dylan began her grooming astatine the Scuba Ranch, a Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) facility. PADI, similar NAUI, provides certifications successful the satellite of scuba diving and develops standards to beryllium followed for safety.

Those standards were not decently overseen oregon followed, the suit contends. To start, determination were "poor visibility and h2o conditions" astatine the water being used.

The miss was placed successful a radical of 7 different students "of mixed property and acquisition levels," and though the parents protested, saying they had "paid for backstage instruction" due to the fact that of Dylan's property and inexperience, they were told she would beryllium harmless due to the fact that she would beryllium with a "NAUI-certified Divemaster," Jonathan Roussel.

"I volition not instrumentality my eyes disconnected your daughter," helium told them, according to the lawsuit, which refers to Dylan by her initials "D.H."

The grooming began, and successful summation to a divemaster accompanying the students, determination was besides a "NAUI-certified instructor," William Armstrong, the filing goes on. "At the time, Armstrong was an off-duty Assistant Chief Deputy for the Collin County, Texas Sheriff's Department," it states. But helium reportedly besides had different job, adjacent successful summation to the scuba gig.

"When they were preparing for D.H. to enactment successful the unfastened h2o grooming people astatine The Scuba Ranch, Plaintiffs and D.H. were unaware that Armstrong had worked a afloat time displacement arsenic Collin County Sheriff's Deputy connected Friday, August 15, 2025, earlier moving a afloat overnight displacement arsenic a information defender astatine different facility, helium had near this 2nd displacement astatine 6:00 a.m. to thrust astir an hr to The Scuba Ranch, and helium was astir to statesman a afloat time of scuba acquisition having had small oregon nary slumber successful the past 24 hours," the suit claims.

During the opening grooming dives, Dylan was paired with different 12-year-old kid, and she "was not decently weighted" nor decently checked to marque definite she was "neutrally buoyant connected the surface," her parents claim. At astir 10:12 a.m., aft Roussel and Armstrong checked each pupil to spot however overmuch aerial was successful their scuba tanks — Dylan's was 80% afloat — the students submerged themselves again into the water.

Her parents authorities that "[t]his was the past clip anyone saw D.H. alive."

Dylan "became separated" from everyone other — a information "not instantly recognized," the suit goes on. After "multiple minutes" and the 2 adults realizing they had 7 students with them and not eight, Roussel brought the different students to enactment and Armstrong searched for the missing child.

Someone called exigency services, and "additional divers and unit astatine the Scuba Ranch" helped search. However, "Armstrong and Roussel were seen leaving the country and, erstwhile they returned, they were reportedly unhelpful successful guiding the hunt for D.H. Consequently, the archetypal hunt was disorganized and inefficient, wasting invaluable time."

"Once a due hunt was initiated, D.H. was recovered wrong astir 7 minutes — astir 30 minutes aft she was past seen alive," the suit continues. "D.H. was unresponsive connected the bottom, her chemoreceptor was bleeding, the regulator was retired of her mouth, and her disguise and astatine slightest 1 of her fins were disconnected and located immoderate region distant from her body."

The Harrison parents support that their daughter's aerial vessel was 55 percent full, meaning "it tin beryllium surmised that D.H. was live and breathing disconnected her vessel for respective minutes" aft she was past seen. "During this time, D.H. was alone, successful mediocre visibility, and incapable to scope the surface."

Emergency unit tried to prevention Dylan aft taking her assemblage from the water, but she was pronounced dead.

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As the probe began into what precisely went wrong, the parents accidental "witnesses came guardant with further accusation astir the callousness and disregard for safety" exhibited by the defendants. One specified portion of accusation was a video obtained by country Fox affiliate KDFW successful which Joseph Johnson, the proprietor of Scubatoys successful 2017, could beryllium seen "bragging to a roomful of Scubatoys Instructors astir the fig of students Scubatoys had killed without immoderate consequences, and however Scubatoys' security broker had assured Johnson helium and Scubatoys could termination 2 students each twelvemonth and inactive beryllium 'fine.'"

"All I cognize is we've killed, what, 4 people, 5 people, and we've ne'er adjacent done a deposition," the antheral successful the video says. "Our security institution conscionable settles."

And according to the lawsuit, the different antheral seen successful the video is "Rick Golden, the NAUI determination typical charged with supervising Scubatoys and its compliance with NAUI Standards and Procedures." The parents add: "Golden does not explicit immoderate daze oregon astonishment astatine Johnson's callous disregard for information oregon the worth of quality life, indicating that helium was alert of Scubatoys 'kill count' and helium was besides good with it."

Scubatoys closed its Carrollton concern connected Jan. 31, according to KDFW, which added that NAUI and PADI did not respond to requests for comment. The Scuba Ranch told the presumption that it was praying that the household receives the answers and closure it deserves.