Kennedi Ray, a four-year-old autistic girl, drowned in a vacation rental pool in Northeast Miami-Dade in early March. The family was vacationing at a rental in the 20000 block of Northeast 15th Avenue in the Ives Estates area. Kennedi slipped out of the home while the family was asleep and was later found dead in the pool.
The rental property was advertised as 'family-friendly' but allegedly lacked proper pool safety measures such as alarms or barriers. The family is pushing to have the property removed from rental listings and urging strict enforcement of Florida's Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act, which requires safety measures around residential swimming pools to prevent drowning-related deaths. The family expects to file a lawsuit against Airbnb.
Airbnb has supported bipartisan efforts in the Florida state legislature to strengthen pool safety standards for all homes with pools. Airbnb hosts must follow all local laws, including pool safety rules, as outlined in its Terms of Service and hosting guidelines. The exact date in early March when the drowning occurred has not been disclosed.
It is unclear whether the rental property owners have responded to the allegations or if the property has been removed from listings. The timeline for when the family plans to file the lawsuit against Airbnb is also unknown.