Henry County Boy Found Dead in Sludge Tank

A 5 year old Henry County boy was tragically found dead in a sludge tank in a small water sewage treatment plant.  Alexis Rivera disappeared sometime around 6:30 p.m. Monday evening.  A frantic search by neighbors, family, and police ensured.  Rivera's bike was found roughly 120 feet from the locked wooden gate surrounding the plant.  A second chain link fences lies inside the wooden barrier and is topped with barbed wire.  There are holes and gaps in both of these barriers that make it accessible.

Captain Jason Bolton of the Henry County Police Department theorized that the sound of water may have lured the young boy onto the premises.  He thinks the boy may have mistook the sludge for mud covering the tops of tanks.  The manager of Rivera's Poole's Manor mobile home complex Steven Haywood reported that there had never been a problem with children in Rivera's neighborhood attempting to get into the plant in the past.  It is unclear what precisely lured young Rivera to the facility, and ultimately his tragic death. 

An autopsy revealed that the cause of death was drowning.  No foul play is suspected according to the Henry County Police Department.  Neighbors are planning a vigil for 7 p.m. this Thursday evening.  Neighbor Bonita Crews plans to meet with Haywood to begin an after-school program.

The sludge tank could likely be described as an "attractive nuisance," requiring the owners of the property on which it is located to take extra precautions to prevent the type of accident that occurred here.  Younger children cannot be expected to appreciate the danger which may exist, even if they are enclosed as this tank was.  The owner of the property, once erecting the fences, has a duty to ensure that they're kept up adequately and must fix any holes he discovers.  Here, though, the owner is likely to be a division or agent of Henry County.  Generally, cities and counties are protected from lawsuits for injuries such as those suffered by Rivera by the "sovereign immunity" rule.  The rule may not be a complete bar, however, and each case is different.  Depending on the nature of the ownership of the facility, some legal recourse may be available for Rivera's family.