The parents of 2-year-old Oakley Schmidt, who drowned in a community swimming pool at a Gorham mobile home park last year, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit seeking $150 million in damages. The case accuses the owners of the Friendly Village mobile home community of failing to repair a damaged fence surrounding the pool—an alleged safety lapse that allowed Oakley to enter the area unsupervised.
The lawsuit, filed in Cumberland County Superior Court, was brought by Oakley’s parents, Natasha and Jake Schmidt, who say their son’s death on May 22, 2024, resulted from the park’s longstanding negligence. The defendants, listed as Maine Mobile Homes LTD, have not yet issued a public statement regarding the suit.
According to the complaint, the park’s pool was enclosed by a deteriorating chain-link fence that had holes punched through the metal links, forming what the lawsuit described as a “makeshift ladder” that allowed a child to climb over. The family’s attorney, Jeffrey Bennett, stated that Friendly Village “neglected to maintain and repair the fence for years,” despite clear evidence of disrepair.
According to court filings, surveillance footage from the park shows that Oakley wandered away from his family’s yard and walked toward a nearby playground, located directly beside the community pool. Additional footage reportedly captured Oakley standing inside the fenced pool area moments before the fatal incident.
When his parents realized he was missing, they and nearby neighbors began an urgent search. Moments later, Oakley was found unresponsive in the pool. “Oakley’s life ended in Jake’s and Natasha’s presence,” the lawsuit reads, describing the parents as “overwhelmed with extreme and unimaginable emotional grief, trauma, and suffering that no father or mother should ever have to experience.”
Attorney Bennett emphasized that the lawsuit aims not only to bring justice for Oakley but also to promote accountability for corporate landlords and property managers who fail to uphold safety standards.
“A meaningful jury verdict will motivate a corporation like the one that operates Friendly Village, and other corporations, to invest in maintenance to prevent tragedies like this,” Bennett said.
The Schmidts’ case centers on premises liability law, which holds property owners responsible for maintaining safe environments. When a child gains access to a hazardous area like a swimming pool due to faulty barriers or lack of maintenance, courts often apply the “attractive nuisance doctrine.” This doctrine recognizes that children are naturally drawn to features such as pools and that property owners must take reasonable precautions to prevent unsupervised access.
In this case, the lawsuit argues that Friendly Village failed to take those precautions, allowing a known safety hazard to persist for years. If proven, the owners could be held liable for both wrongful death damages and emotional distress compensation for the parents.
The $150 million lawsuit seeks to send a broader message about corporate responsibility and the importance of maintaining community amenities like pools to meet safety code standards.
Tragedies like Oakley Schmidt’s are devastating reminders of how quickly drowning can occur—and how preventable such incidents can be with proper safeguards. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), drowning remains the leading cause of accidental death for children aged 1–4 in the United States.
Preventative measures that could save lives include:
Installing secure, self-closing, and self-latching pool gates
Conducting regular inspections of fencing and pool barriers
Maintaining clear separation between playgrounds and water features
Ensuring that community pools remain locked when not staffed or supervised
Educating residents about child supervision and pool safety
These steps are especially vital for multi-family or mobile home communities, where amenities are shared among residents.
At Aquatic Attorneys, we represent families devastated by drowning and near-drowning incidents in residential, commercial, and community pool settings. Led by Michael Haggard, Esq., our firm has fought for decades to hold negligent property owners accountable and to ensure that such preventable tragedies never happen again.
Our legal team investigates every aspect of a drowning case—from the condition of pool barriers and maintenance logs to property management oversight—to identify where safety failures occurred. We combine compassionate support for grieving families with aggressive legal advocacy aimed at achieving meaningful reform and justice.
If your family has suffered the loss of a child or loved one in a drowning accident, you are not alone. Contact Aquatic Attorneys today for a free, confidential consultation. Together, we can help you seek answers, accountability, and a safer future for all families.
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