A former Marine and grandfather was “boiled alive” in a scalding hot hotel shower, where the water reached 136 degrees — causing his skin to peel off his body, according to a disturbing lawsuit.
Terril Johnson, a 72-year-old Marine Corps veteran, had hopped in the shower at the Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites San Jose Airport in California after a six-hour drive from Los Angeles to attend his granddaughter’s college graduation in May, a wrongful death lawsuit filed this month claims.
When his grandson went into the bathroom to check on him, he found Johnson unconscious and partially submerged in water — which was allegedly so hot that he could not pull him out without burning himself, according to the suit obtained by the LA Times.
Panicked family members then desperately attempted to perform CPR but “were forced to watch in horror as his skin peeled away from his body,” the filing states.
He was “effectively boiled alive,” the family’s lawyers wrote.
The Santa Clara County medical examiner ruled Johnson’s cause of death to be severe scalding due to burns on more than 33% of his body.
It was unclear how long exactly he was submerged in the piping hot water, but it had been only “a short time,” the family’s lawyer said.
Johnson’s son, daughter-in-law and three granddaughters — including Trinity, who was set to graduate from San Jose State University the next day — all witnessed the hotel room horror, according to the Mercury News.
The distraught family filed the suit on Oct. 15 against Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites San Jose Airport, alleging wrongful death and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
The suit alleges that the water pouring out of the shower was between 134 and 136 degrees — far hotter than the 120-degree maximum set by California’s plumbing code for individual showers and tub showers, according to the Times.
“This was not a freak accident,” court documents state. “It was the direct result of Defendant’s gross negligence and failure to meet even basic safety obligations.”
Johnson, an Indiana native, served with the Marines in Vietnam before he moved out to California.
He was married to his high school sweetheart for 54 years, the Times reported.