The family of a teenager who drowned in May at Sun Valley Beach has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Powder Springs water park.

Ifeanyi Odihe drowned May 27 during an outing to Sun Valley.

Family photo (ENLARGE)

Ifeanyi Odihe drowned May 27 during an outing to Sun Valley.

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He was a junior at South Cobb High School Academy of Research and Medical Sciences, the school's magnet program.

The water park trip was organized by parents to celebrate the end of the school year.

The 16-year-old's drowning was ruled accidental, said Officer Cassie Reece, a Cobb police spokeswoman. Toxicology results are not complete. But the teenager did not have alcohol in his system, said Michael Cosper, a spokesman for the Medical Examiner's office.

Marlin Lamar, sales manager and catering director for the park, said he had not seen the lawsuit and only learned of it from the news media.

Lamar said he could not comment on the lawsuit. But he added: "The death was regrettable. We are still saddened."

The lawsuit was filed in Cobb State Court on June 24 by the Cuffie Law Firm of Atlanta.

In an e-mailed statement sent by the family's attorneys, Simeon Odihe, Ifeanyi's father, said: "we are speaking out about the drowning death of Ifeanyi because....we want to ask any swimmers who may have seen him in trouble to contact us because no one has come forward so far."

In the statement, Odihe continues, the park's management was "careless in a number of ways and, therefore, contributed to Ifeanyi's death....Finally, we hope that speaking out will help prevent other needless deaths at Sun Valley Beach."

Among other allegations, the lawsuit claims that the water was so cloudy that the drains in the deepest portions of the pool could not be seen.

Ifeanyi's body was found in about 12 feet of water.

The lawsuit claims that lifeguards failed to be "adequately attentive to swimming pool patrons, including Ifeanyi Odihe...."

It alleges that park staff failed to temporarily close the pool when the water became so cloudy that it "impaired or adversely impacted their ability to preserve the lives and physical well-being of swimming patrons."

The lawsuit asks for compensation for expenses for the teenager's burial and for "the recovery of damages for the full economic value of the life of Ifeanyi Odihe."