Woodlain Zachee Prudhomme drowned in Mission Beach a day after his graduation in June of 2022. His family blames San Diego lifeguards, and they’re suing the city of San Diego for wrongful death. NBC 7’s Allison Ash was in the courtroom for day one of testimony in the case.
“He was one of the most genuine people I ever met,” said the first witness on the stand. “I think he left a really good impact.”
She was referring to 18-year-old Woodlain Zachee Prudhomme. He was her boyfriend in 2022 when he was swept out to sea in a deadly rip current.
Prudhomme’s body wasn’t recovered until more than six months later, when it washed ashore.
The teen's family is now suing the city of San Diego and its lifeguards, claiming they were negligent for failing to warn their son about rip currents that June day.
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Anita Thoeum testified that she and Prudhomme began dating when they attended Crawford High. They shared a love of basketball and worked together planning on-campus events for the Associated Student Body.
The two graduated on June 13, 2022. One day later, they headed to Mission Beach with friends and frolicked in the water near lifeguard Tower 15.
Thoeum testified that she and Woodlain were hugging and kissing in chest-deep water when a lifeguard on a jet-ski told them to move to the area near Tower 16. She testified the couple did so, but that path took them directly into an active rip current area.
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“The waves were just hitting me and Woodlain,” Thoeum testified.
Thoeum said that when her feet couldn’t touch the ground, she began yelling for help. Woodlain was screaming as well, she testified.
“I just remember us screaming for help, and then him pushing me forward toward the shore,” Thoeum recounted.
At some point, a little girl on a boogie board came to Thoeum’s aid, but Woodlain went under.
Lifeguards searched the water but didn’t find the teenager.
Thoeum testified that she was surrounded by friends, lifeguards and San Diego police officers on the shore. An officer's body camera video was shown in court showing officers peppering Thoeum with questions as a woman prayed for Woodlain’s safety.
On cross-examination, an attorney for the city, Jacqueline McQuarrie, pointed out inconsistencies in Thoeum’s story and questioned whether she had ever swam in the ocean. In one line of questioning, McQuarrie suggested that Woodlain had carried Thoeum on his back. The senior chief deputy city attorney also asked whether the couple ignored the lifeguard’s advice to move north toward Tower 16.
Other testimony on Monday came from two doctors, one who described the process of drowning, the other who talked about the study of waves and rip currents.
A lifeguard on duty the day Prudhomme drowned also took the stand.
Testimony in the case is expected to last several days.
