The widow of an Arlington firefighter who died while celebrating his 10th wedding anniversary at the all-inclusive Royalton Chic resort in Cancun, Mexico, was awarded $31.27 million by a jury this week that found the hotel liable for negligence.
Elijah Snow, 35, died in July 2021 and his widow, Jamie, filed suit in June 2022, naming as defendants RCM Hotel, its parent company Blue Diamond Hotels and Resorts and a travel agency that was later dropped from the suit. Tarrant County District Judge Melody Wilkinson presided over the case that ended with a unanimous jury verdict around 5 p.m. Tuesday.
According to the lawsuit, the couple began drinking soon after they arrived at the hotel on July 18, 2021, continued through dinner and enjoyed a martini nightcap before Jamie Snow went to their room and fell asleep. Elijah Snow told her he’d join as soon as he finished his drink, but she awoke around 3:30 a.m. and realized he wasn’t there. She alerted authorities and hotel management. He was found stuck inside a small, low-to-the-ground window of a neighboring property with bruises, cuts and scratches on his head, back, legs, hands and arms. The lawsuit details the difficulties Jamie Snow had in getting information from authorities about what happened to her husband.
Elijah Snow’s death was ruled to be caused by suffocation.
Wes Bearden of J.W. Bearden & Associates, who represents the Snow family, issued a statement following the verdict.
“We’ll likely never know for certain all of the details of Elijah’s tragic death, but we do know that the Royalton, its management and staff contributed to that tragedy with the utter disregard for his safety,” he said. “Jamie and their two children have suffered in every imaginable way. This verdict will not bring Elijah back, but perhaps it will cause this resort and others to become more responsible in the training of their staff, the security technology they use and the practices they follow.”
On the question of negligence, the jury apportioned liability as follows: Elijah Snow, 10 percent; RCM Hotel, 65 percent; Blue Diamond Hotels and Resorts, 25 percent.
Jurors awarded $4 million in compensation for pain suffered by Elijah Snow, awarded Jamie Snow $3.2 million for her pecuniary loss, $4.47 million for her past and future loss of companionship and $6 million for her mental anguish. The jury awarded each of Snow’s two minor children $3.3 million for loss of companionship and $3.5 million for mental anguish, for a total of $13.6 million.
RCM and Blue Diamond had argued the Tarrant County district court had no jurisdiction to hear the dispute, denied any wrongdoing and also said any damages “were the result of negligent and negligent per se acts and/or omissions of others not under the control of defendant.”
RCM Hotel and Blue Diamond Hotels and Resorts is represented by Michael Burke, Joseph A. Ziemianski and James Kuritzkes of Cozen O’Connor. The attorneys did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Thursday.
The case number is 017-334326-22.