Judge Tosses Family's Lawsuit in Lily Lake Death

The family of Jack Ariola Erenberg will appeal a judge's decision to throw out their lawsuit over the nine-year-old boy's death last year after he was fatally infected by primary amoebic meningoencephalitis at Lily Lake in Stillwater, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported. 

Because "the loss is caused by a natural condition found in the environment, neither the law nor public policy should place a burden on taxpayers to absorb the economic burden of the harm," the judge's ruling said, according to the newspaper.  

The City of Stillwater, Washington County and the State of Minnesota asked for dismissal of the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Jack Ariola Erenberg last summer. 

At that time, the Pioneer Press reported, Erenberg family attorney Roger Strassburg said: "When you know a child has been killed by an amoeba in a body of water where the prevention is a simple nose plug, there is a duty to do something to let people know."

(Erenberg was not the first child to die the parasite at Lily Lake; see Annie Bahneman's Family, Friends to Remember her with Tree.)


Related at Stillwater Patch (in reverse chronological order): 

• City, County, State Ask Judge to Throw Out Suit over Boy's Death from Lily Lake Amoeba
• City Council Closes Public Beach at Lily Lake for 2013 Swimming Season
• Annie Bahneman's Family, Friends to Remember Her
• Lily Lake Wrongful Death Lawsuit Will be Heard
• CDC: Naegleria Fowleri In Erenberg's Body
• MDH Confirms Presence of Amoeba in Lily Lake
• Lily Lake Property Owners Want More Answers
• Boy's Organs Donated After Fatal Brain Infection
• Expert in Immunology: Infection by Brain-eating Amoeba Linked to Climate Change
• Child Dead, Lily Lake Closed Due to Lethal Organism