Wife suing resort companies after husband's fatal electrocution in a hot tub

(NewsNation) — An El Paso, Texas, woman is suing the American owner of a Mexican resort over the electrocution death of her husband.

43-year-old Jorge Guillen was killed, and his wife, 35-year-old Lizette Zambrano, was injured when they entered the hot tub on Tuesday, June 11 at the Sonoran Sea Resort, a complex of high-rise condos in Puerto Penasco. The resort town is at the far north end of the Sea of Cortez, about 60 miles south of the Mexican border with Arizona.

According to the lawsuit filed by Zambrano, she and her husband headed for the resort’s hot tub, which for some reason had an electric current running through the water. As soon as Guillen dipped his foot in the water, the current zapped him, he quickly keeled over into the hot tub and became trapped underwater.

Zambrano jumped in to save her husband, but she was jolted by the current and also fell in the tub. Other guests were able to pull Zambrano out but could not save Guillen. Zambrano was flown to a hospital in Phoenix, initially with life-threatening injuries. She was released on Friday, June 14.

The general prosecutor’s office for the Mexican state of Sonora issued a statement saying, “Forensic services will conduct the necessary field analyses to determine the origin of the electrical failure.”

Zambrano has filed a $1 million lawsuit against the U.S.-based resort operator Casago International, Casago LLC and the travel company High Desert Travel.

“Defendants breached their duty of ordinary care by failing to adequately maintain the premises and/or failing to make the condition reasonably safe,” the lawsuit says. It also accuses the property management of taking too much time to respond.

“It was only after approximately ten (10) painstaking minutes that Casago staff and the Defendants finally availed themselves and began to assist in rescuing Jorge. At no time prior to this, did Defendants seek to engage the emergency shutoff for the jacuzzi or attempt any rescue of either Jorge or Lizzette,” the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit is seeking damages for pain and suffering, loss of earnings, mental anguish, medical expenses, loss of companionship, and funeral and burial costs, among others.

None of the three companies has responded to media requests for comment.