ELYRIA — The mother of a Vermilion toddler who drowned in a swimming pool is suing the owners of the house for more than $2 million.

 

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Lorain County Common Pleas Court, accuses Barry and Phyllis Anderson of negligence for failing to have a fence around their pool.

 

Issaiah Hasan, who was 20 months old, was found floating in the 4-foot pool on Lorain Drive on Sept. 8, 2006.

 

The boy’s father, Jameel Hasan, told emergency room doctors that he had fallen asleep watching Issaiah while the boy’s mother, Randi Krause, was out running errands.

 

Hasan estimated that he had been asleep for about 15 or 20 minutes and when he awoke, Issaiah was gone. He found him in the pool and jumped in to try to save the boy, but it was too late.

 

A neighbor and an off-duty firefighter who lived in the area also tried to save the boy.

 

Attorney Mike Duff, who represents Krause, said a city ordinance requires that pools be surrounded by fences.

 

“If there’d been a fence like the Vermilion law requires, the child would still be alive,” he said.

 

Vermilion Police Chief Robert Kish said his department investigated the drowning, but no charges were ever filed. The death was ruled accidental by Lorain County Coroner Paul Matus.

 

Contact Brad Dicken at 329-7147 or bdicken@chroniclet.com.

 

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