The grieving parents of a Texas girl who drowned during a diving certification course have filed a lawsuit against two organizations, claiming the child’s death was preventable.
According to Fox 4, on August 16, 2025, 12-year-old Dylan Harrison took a private open water course that her parents purchased from Scubatoys, a local dive shop.
According to reports, when the family arrived at The Scuba Ranch near Terrell, they were told their daughter would be placed in a group of seven students.
The lawsuit also alleges that the divemaster reassured Dylan’s parents before the lesson, telling them, “I will not take my eyes off your daughter.”
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According to the lawsuit, 12-year-old Dylan Harrison drowned while taking a private open water course in Terrell, Texas, on August 16, 2025.
(Fox News)
During class, William Armstrong, an assistant chief deputy with the Collin County Sheriff’s Office, moonlighted as a scuba instructor after working full days as a deputy and then overnight as a security guard at an investment company, Fox 4 reported.
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According to the lawsuit, Armstrong allegedly failed to check that Dylan was at the correct weight when she and her 12-year-old swimming partner entered the water.
Dylan was last seen alive at 9:36 a.m. when the class initially entered the water, and resurfaced at 10:12 a.m. after a miscommunication with a student.
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Emergency services were not called to the scene until about 15 minutes later, the lawsuit states.
“Depending on the amount of remaining air [Dylan’s] Based on the scuba tank that was on the surface before she disappeared and the amount of air remaining in the tank when she was found, it can be speculated that [she] The lawsuit revealed she was still alive and breathing through her tank for several minutes after she was last seen, Fox 4 reported. [Dylan] Alone, visibility was low and there was no way to reach the ground. “
Armstrong resigned from the Collin County Sheriff’s Office following the incident.
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The 40-page lawsuit claims Dylan’s death was avoidable and was the result of repeated failures by the industry to turn a blind eye to safety issues for years.
Lawyers for the Harrison family allegedly cited video of a 2017 staff meeting in which Scubatoy owner Joe Johnson allegedly made disparaging comments about the company’s safety protocols within classes, Fox 4 reported.
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“All I know is that we’ve killed, what? Four people? Five people? We never even gave testimony,” Johnson said in the video. “Our insurance company just settled. John Witherspoon said we can kill two people a year, ‘We’re fine.'”
Lawyers for the Scubatoys, NAUI, PADI, Scuba Ranch and the Harrison family did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital. Fox News Digital could not immediately locate an attorney representing Armstrong.
Original source of the article: 12-year-old allegedly survived underwater for minutes before scuba lesson failed: lawsuit
