Settlement in lawsuit over 2007 drowning at Pheasant Run

A confidential settlement has been reached in a wrongful-death lawsuit against Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles after a 21-year-old drowned in December 2007.

The lawsuit filed on behalf of Javier Gonzalez of Garden Prairie, Ill., sought unspecified damages and argued he was a strong swimmer and Pheasant Run was negligent because of safety violations.

The lawsuit, filed in late 2009, was one of the longest running in Kane County. The settlement, reached late last week, was not included in the court file.

Daniel E. Murphy, an attorney representing the Gonzalez family, and Patrick J. Fanning, a lawyer for Pheasant Run, both declined to comment when contacted Monday.

Gonzalez drowned Dec. 28, 2007 while he swam with cousins and other family members at the resort.

The lawsuit stated Gonzalez was a "strong athlete and a strong swimmer, with experience swimming in the ocean and pools." The lawsuit argued Pheasant Run had been cited multiple times for safety violations that it lacked a life hook, ring buoy and rope cordoning off the deep end of the indoor/outdoor pool.

Kane County Judge James R. Murphy dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled again, records show.