Senate passes bill paying $1.7M to family of rec leader who drowned in Miami Beach pool

The loved ones of a Miami Beach rec leader who drowned in a public pool while lifeguards looked elsewhere are now closer than ever to receiving the balance of a $2 million settlement they reached with the city last year.

Senators voted 37-0 for SB 14, which would authorize Miami Beach to pay $1.7 million to the family of Peniel “P.J. Janvier, who died in August 2022. Until the bill or its House companion passes, the most the family can receive of the settlement is $300,000.

SB 14 is known as a claims bill, a special classification of legislation intended to compensate a person or entity for injury or loss due to the negligence or error of a public officer or agency. Claims bills arise when the damages a claimant seeks are above the thresholds set in Florida’s sovereign immunity law, which today caps payouts at $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident.

In May 2024, Miami Beach Commissioners approved a $2 million settlement with the family of Janvier, a 28-year-old Army Reserve member and recreation leader with the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.

Janvier was visiting kids whom he oversaw during Summer camp on Aug. 16, 2022, at the Scott Rakow Youth Center’s outdoor pool. Video footage recorded Janvier being pushed by a camper into the pool’s deep end and struggling for 12 minutes as kids tried to save him.

A lifeguard on duty was focused on his phone.

Miami Beach later suspended two employees and fired a third over the incident and agreed to pay Janvier’s family, who have only seen $300,000 of the agreed-to sum.

Janvier’s LinkedIn page features a work history indicative of a civically engaged young man who enjoyed working with people. He worked as an activities coordinator for the Pompano Health and Rehabilitation Center before becoming a youth recreation specialist with Miami-Dade County, a job he parlayed into his recreation leader post with the city that he’d held for three years before his death.

Janvier was also close to marking three years working as a sanitation inspector for the city of Miami and was nearing six years with the Army Reserve, where he was a heavy equipment operator.

His LinkedIn page says he held a master’s degree in health services administration and a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Florida International University.

Miami Gardens Democratic Sen. Shevrin Jones sponsored SB 14, which only received “no” votes during its three committee stops from Pensacola Republican Sen. Don Gaetz.

Gaetz switched to a “yes” vote on the Senate floor Wednesday, when Jones forwent speaking at length about the bill before its passage.

An identical companion bill (HB 6519) by Miami Republican Rep. Juan Porras awaits a vote on the House floor after clearing both committees to which it was referred with uniform support.