Naya Rivera’s family has settledthe wrongful death lawsuitthey filed against Ventura County.
“Though the tragic loss of Josey’s mother can never truly be overcome, we are very pleased that the monetary settlement will significantly assist Josey with his life beyond this tragedy,” Khan added.
The Blastwas the first to report the news.
Reps for the Rivera family and Dorsey did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.
Dorsey, 38, and Rivera’s estate sued Ventura County, California — where Riveraaccidentally drownedduringa boat excursionwith her son atLake Piruthe previous July — the county’s Parks and Recreation Management, and the United Water Conservation District for wrongful death and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
Thelawsuit argued that Rivera’s death was preventableand stated that the boat she and her son rented from Lake Piru did not have the proper features and equipment necessary to comply with U.S. Coast Guard safety standards.
Naya Rivera.David Livingston/Getty Images
The court documents also citedthe lake’s “deadly history"and claimed that there wasn’t “a single sign anywhere — not at the entrance, at the dock, at the popular swimming area of Diablo Cove, not anywhere — warning of the lake’s strong currents, low visibility, high winds, changing water depths, underwater caves, ledges and drop offs, or the trees, brush and other debris that congest its waters due to the vastly changing water levels and winds.”
Rivera, who had “strong” swimming skills, was among “more than two dozen people have drowned in Lake Piru since 1959,” according to the documents. (Ventura County Sheriff Sgt. Kevin Donoghue previously confirmed to PEOPLE that there have beenprior drownings at the lake.)
The actress, who was beloved for playing Santana Lopez onGlee, wasconfirmed deadat age 33 on July 13, 2020 — five days after shedisappearedduring a trip to the Southern California lake.
Rivera rented a pontoon boat at the lake with Josey on July 8. When the boat became overdue for return after its three-hour rental, the staff at the lake found it at the north side of the water with the star’ssleeping son aboard. A search-and-rescue operation was immediately undertaken in the area. On July 9, authorities announced that Rivera waspresumed deadas the search shifted from a rescue mission to a recovery one.
Rivera was thenlaid to reston July 24, 2020.
(L-R) Naya Rivera, Ryan Dorsey, son Josey.Ryan Dorsey/Instagram
Rivera and Dorsey weremarried from 2014 to 2018. The actorbroke his silenceabout his ex’s death with a heartbreaking post on Instagram days after the accident, writing in part, “This is so unfair… there’s not enough words to express the hole left in everyone’s hearts.”
“I can’t believe this is life now. I don’t know if I’ll ever believe it,” he wrote at the time. “You were just here…We were just in the back swimming with Josey the day before. Life just isn’t fair.”
Recently, Dorseymarked what would’ve been Rivera’s 35th birthdayin an emotional post on Instagram.
source: people.com
