A trip to Laughlin that was supposed to be about casino fun has turned into a multimillion-dollar courtroom fight, after a guest who said he was paralyzed in a fall while exiting an elevator at the Aquarius Casino Resort later died.
The visitor, identified in court papers as Theodore Webber, allegedly became a quadriplegic following the October incident and died several weeks later. His estate has now filed a wrongful-death lawsuit claiming the fall was the result of failures by both the property and the company responsible for the elevator.
The estate of Theodore Webber brought the case in Clark County District Court on April 8, 2026, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The lawsuit names Aquarius Casino Resort and an unspecified elevator company as defendants and seeks more than $2.5 million for past medical and funeral expenses, plus additional compensatory and punitive damages. The estate is represented by attorney Daniel S. Simon of Simon Law.
Court filings state that Webber was visiting the Aquarius on Oct. 13 when he fell while exiting an elevator. The complaint says the fall left him a quadriplegic and that he died on Nov. 3. The filing explicitly “invokes res ipsa loquitur,” arguing that a mishap of this kind would not occur in the absence of negligence, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Where It Happened and Who Owns the Resort
The incident took place at the Aquarius Casino Resort, a riverfront property in Laughlin that sits along the Colorado River and is part of Golden Entertainment’s Nevada portfolio. The resort’s website outlines its hotel, gaming and entertainment offerings for guests; ownership details and property information appear in both Aquarius Casino Resort materials and Golden Entertainment corporate disclosures.
What the Complaint Says
The wrongful-death complaint paints a picture of systemic failure rather than a freak accident. It alleges that negligent hiring, training, supervision and retention allowed a dangerous condition involving the elevator to exist, and that the casino did not prevent or correct that condition.
The suit seeks recovery for past and future grief, sorrow and loss of probable support, along with general damages on behalf of the estate. The filing identifies Mary Miller as Webber’s spouse and lists the estate as the plaintiff pursuing the wrongful-death claims.
Legal Context and Next Steps
At the center of the case is the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur, a legal concept that can let a jury infer negligence from the very nature of an accident when there is no direct proof of what went wrong. For a basic explanation, see Cornell Law School's LII.
Nevada courts have applied similar principles in elevator and premises-liability cases, and casino properties in the Las Vegas area have faced other injury suits in recent years. For instance, FOX5 Las Vegas reported on a lawsuit filed by the widow of a man killed in an escalator incident at a Las Vegas hotel.
The Webber case is currently pending in Clark County District Court. The next moves will come as the defendants respond, the court sets hearings and the matter either heads toward settlement, discovery or a full-blown trial that could put the casino’s safety practices under a very bright spotlight.
