DADE CITY - A 33-year-old Zephyrhills woman awaiting trial, accused of allowing her 4-year-old daughter to wander from her home and drown in a community swimming pool, filed a lawsuit Tuesday blaming the homeowners' association.
Sarasota attorney David Shapiro filed the suit in Circuit Court on behalf of Stephanie D. Armstrong, seeking unspecified damages above the $15,000 Circuit Court minimum and alleging negligence and wrongful death.
Armstrong is awaiting trial in connection with the April 4, 2002, drowning of her daughter, Christina, in the community pool at the Sandalwood mobile home park where she lived.
Armstrong was charged with child neglect after investigators said at least eight neighbors came to them and said Christina was frequently found wandering outside, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Neighbors said Christina had been found trying to get into the pool for nearly a year, deputies reported, and the homeowners association put locks on the pool gates after Christina was found trying to get in the pool on July 10, 2001.
Other neighbors reported they saw the child roaming the neighborhood on her tricycle. Sometimes she was in a diaper; other times she was naked. But almost always she was unsupervised, according to investigators.
Armstrong's suit alleges the pool was an attractive nuisance and claims Christina got to the water "through a defective and ill-maintained gate." The suit says the homeowners' association "allowed an unreasonably dangerous and defective condition."
Sandalwood homeowners' association president Nancy Filimon said she would have to review the suit before commenting on the case.
Armstrong has been free on supervised release without posting bail since shortly after her arrest. She has pleaded not guilty and has routinely appeared in court for scheduled hearings.
She is scheduled to appear today at a pretrial conference. No trial date has been set.
