05/14/2010 // West Palm Beach, FL, USA // Tara Monks // Tara Monks
Cheshire, CT – A settlement was reached Wednesday, May 12, 2010 between a Connecticut teenager, her mother and the family of a toddler who drowned while the teen was babysitting, according to the New Haven Register. The girl and her mother will pay $1.1 million to the family of the deceased boy.
Cheshire Probate Judge Raymond Voelker approved the two-part settlement between Michelle and Krista Repko and the Veenhius family.
On May 2, 2009, 3-year-old Cole Veenhuis drowned in his family’s swimming pool while Krista Repko was babysitting him and his twin sister.
The boy’s mother, Diane Veenhuis, told reporters in a statement Thursday that Cole’s death “was definitely preventable and morally should have been foreseeable by the individuals we entrusted.”
The Veenhuis’ attorney claimed Krista’s mother, Michelle, misrepresented her daughter’s abilities as a baby sitter, which is why she was included in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit was considered a wrongful death case.
No criminal charges were ever filed.
The Veenhuis family reportedly plans to put the money from the settlement into a trust for their daughter to be used later to help Hannah deal with the pain of loss, as well as to establish a memorial fund in the boy’s name.
The Repkos have not returned media requests for interviews.
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