FORT PIERCE, FL — The family of a Florida grandmother who was killed by an alligator while walking her dog has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the retirement community where the February 2023 attack took place.
Gloria Serge, 85, was walking her dog near the lake behind her Spanish Lakes Fairways home in Fort Pierce on Feb. 20, 2023, when the attack happened. According to her family’s attorneys, an alligator measuring more than 10 feet long grabbed her left foot and dragged her into the lake, where she drowned.
“Her screams drew the attention of a neighbor who called 911 and pleaded with her to swim to shore,” attorneys Lesser, Lesser, Landy & Smith PLLC said in a news release. “Gloria yelled out that the alligator had her by the leg before she disappeared beneath the surface.”
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The lawsuit filed Thursday accuses Spanish Lakes Fairways, a retirement community for people 55 and older, and owner Wynne Building Corp. of negligence and claims staff did not do enough to warn residents about the presence of alligators.
According to court documents, the Spanish Lakes Fairways manager told Serge before her death that she was only allowed to walk her dog on her property or at a dog run nearly a mile from her home. Instead, she walked him in her backyard, which bordered a community lake.
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“There were no signs posted around the lake warning residents of the presence of an alligator, and the property managers encouraged people to sit near the lake by placing a bench along the shoreline,” attorneys said in a news release. “This flies in the face of common sense and warnings from wildlife experts.”
The lawsuit also claims maintenance workers at Spanish Lakes Fairways routinely fed the alligator that killed Serge chicken scraps and “even named the dangerous reptile ‘Henry.'”
“(The defendant) failed to take reasonable steps to remove this dangerous condition and instead actually made the condition more dangerous by permitting residents and employees to have regular contact with the alligators,” the lawsuit states.
According to the lawsuit, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has a program in place to remove reptiles from communities like Spanish Lakes Fairways. If the alligator measures at least 4 feet long, a trapper can remove the gator from the area.
At 10 feet long, “Henry” more than met the requirement, attorneys said.
“Unfortunately, the managers at Spanish Lakes Fairways failed to live up to their obligations, and as a direct result, Gloria died a horrible and terrifying death,” attorneys said in a news release.
In a statement provided to NBC News, Wynne Building Corp. president Joel Wynne said the incident was the first time an alligator attacked a Spanish Lakes Fairways resident.
“We developed Spanish Lakes Fairways 37 years ago. We have approximately 3,000 residents,” Wynne said in the statement. “Mrs. Serge was a longtime resident and certainly knew of the presence of alligators and that they were inherently dangerous animals.”
Serge’s five surviving children are seeking unspecified financial damages, according to the lawsuit.
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