Gov. DeSantis approves $1.7M payment to family of rec leader drowned in Miami Beach pool

The loved ones of a Miami Beach rec leader who drowned in a public pool while lifeguards looked elsewhere will receive the balance of a $2 million settlement they reached with Miami Beach last year.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has approved legislation (SB 14) to authorize the city to pay $1.7 million to the family of Peniel “P.J. Janvier, who died in August 2022.

SB 14, sponsored by Miami Gardens Democratic Sen. Shevrin Jones, 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 damages claimants seek amounts that exceed 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.

Under Jones’ measure, to which Miami Republican Rep. Juan Porras carried an identical House companion (HB 6519), they’ll receive the remainder.

DeSantis quietly signed SB 14 on Tuesday.

Janvier’s LinkedIn page features a work history indicative of a civically engaged young man who enjoys 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 as a sanitation inspector for the city of Miami and nearing six years with the Army Reserve, where he served as a heavy equipment operator.

His LinkedIn profile indicates that he holds a master’s degree in health services administration and a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Florida International University.