The family of seven-year-old Angelica Jogie, who was killed in the April jet ski tragedy at Pigeon Point Heritage Park, has launched legal action against jet ski operator Ashworth Burnett, also known as “Whistle”; the Tobago House of Assembly; and Pigeon Point Heritage Park Limited.
In a pre-action protocol letter filed by Senior Counsel Anand Ramlogan and Freedom Law Chambers, the Jogie family alleges negligence, systemic safety failures and reckless disregard for public safety led to the child’s death.
According to the legal letter, Angelica was bathing with relatives at Pigeon Point on April 8th when a jet ski allegedly entered a restricted bathing area and slammed into the family.
The attorneys say, “What should have been a place of safety became, in an instant, the scene of unimaginable horror.”
The Freedom Law Chambers letter states Angelica suffered catastrophic injuries after the collision and “began vomiting blood and bleeding profusely from her head, nose and eyes. She repeatedly lost consciousness.”
The family’s lawsuit alleges that despite the severity of her injuries, an ambulance arrived almost one hour later.
The legal team wrote, “Every passing moment carried the unbearable fear that the child they had held, raised and loved might never return home.”
At the hospital, Angelica was pronounced dead.
Her mother, Salisha Narine-Jogie, described receiving the news as “a knife being pierced straight through my chest”.
The claim further argues the tragedy was not an unavoidable accident.
The letter states, “The collision was not unavoidable. It was the direct and foreseeable result” of failures by the jet ski operator.
But the family is not only blaming the jet ski operator alone.
The Tobago House of Assembly and Pigeon Point Heritage Park Limited are accused of what attorneys describe as “a sustained and systemic failure” involving marine safety, enforcement and public protection.
The letter also points to previous incidents, safety policies and a High Court ruling involving Pigeon Point, in which Senior Counsel Anand Ramlogan appeared for claimants, and in which the court warned of the dangers posed by watercraft operating near bathers.
According to the family’s attorneys, the evidence reveals “a compelling prima facie case” that the fatal collision resulted from “multiple institutional failures”.
Freedom Law Chambers says that unless there is a meaningful response within 28 days, High Court proceedings will be filed seeking damages for Angelica’s death, personal injuries and psychological trauma suffered by her parents and surviving sister.