Port Allen Toddler Drowns at Margaritaville Resort in Biloxi, Mississippi

A two-year-old from Port Allen, Louisiana tragically lost his life after drowning in the pool at the Margaritaville Resort in Biloxi, Mississippi on Sunday afternoon.

The details surrounding the incident are still unclear, but Biloxi police have begun investigating and have found no indication that criminal activity was involved. The drowning appears to be a “horrible accident,” according to local news.

Captain Milton Houseman of the Biloxi Police Department said that the boy’s family was staying at the resort. He also said that a lifeguard was on duty at the time of the incident. Video surveillance of the pool will be reviewed as part of the investigation.

According to Harrison County Coroner Brian Switzer, the toddler was taken to Merit Health System in Biloxi, but he was pronounced dead at about 5:00 pm.

Margaritaville issued a statement giving the company’s condolences to the family, but a spokesperson for the resort clarified to local news station WLOX that the pool at the Biloxi Margaritaville Resort has pool attendants, not lifeguards. The attendants are CPR certified, however.

A Frightening History of Margaritaville Drownings

This is not the first drowning at a Margaritaville Resort. It’s also not the first drowning involving a young child. On November 5, 2021, a 6-year-old girl drowned in the pool at the Margaritaville Resort in Lake Conroe, Texas. In 2019, a father and son lost their lives at the Margaritaville Water Park at Lanier Islands in Georgia. The father went into the water to find his nine-year-old son, and they both drowned. Our attorneys are representing the boy’s mother, who lost her child and her husband in the same tragic – and preventable – incident.

Resorts, hotels, and other properties with pools and other water features have an obligation to keep guests safe by properly supervising and fencing off water areas, maintaining pools, spas, and their equipment, and more. Having “pool attendants” as opposed to lifeguards does not exclude them from accountability. Posting warning signs does not give them immunity from situations where children or adults lose their lives because the water is not safe or monitored. Families deserve answers when they lose loved ones, and those who are at fault must be held accountable.

Our hearts go out to this boy’s family after this terrible incident. Our Margaritaville drowning attorneys will be following the investigation and details as they emerge.