A Travis County lawsuit filed this week accuses an Austin apartment complex of leaving its swimming pool unlit and its water so cloudy that a 2-year-old boy could not be seen before he drowned on August 15. The child, identified by family fundraising campaigns as Lukas Kliefoth, died at the property after what the suit describes as a preventable failure to maintain basic pool safety conditions.
The wrongful death complaint, filed by attorney Jesse Guerra of the Potts Law Firm on behalf of the boy's parents, Matthew Kliefoth and Stephanie Slupe, names Apartment Management Professionals, Ltd., doing business as AMP, along with Abel Ruiz and A Plus Paint & Construction, LLC as defendants, according to Potts Law Firm. The case, filed in Travis County District Court under case number D-1-GN-26-007910, alleges the pool area had no working lights and that the water itself was cloudy, conditions the lawsuit says created serious safety concerns including reduced visibility in and around the water.
Per the lawsuit's allegations, that reduced visibility made it more difficult to identify a child in distress, a claim that lines up with longstanding state rules governing pool clarity and lighting. Under 25 Texas Administrative Code § 265.193, public and apartment complex pools in Texas must maintain water clear enough that an 8-inch black disk placed on the pool floor at its deepest point is visible from the surface. Separately, 25 Texas Administrative Code § 265.190(i) requires any pool operating at night to provide artificial lighting across all pool and deck areas from the water's edge.
Attorney Says a Pool That Isn't Safe Shouldn't Stay Open
Guerra, who focuses on swimming pool safety and drowning cases and has extensive experience representing families affected by drowning and other serious aquatic incidents, framed the lawsuit as bigger than one family's grief. The lawsuit seeks accountability for the circumstances surrounding the child's death, and the firm said it hopes the case will push property owners and pool operators to examine their own facilities. Guerra said the case is about seeking justice for the family and pool safety awareness more broadly.
“If a pool cannot be kept safe, it should not remain open,” Guerra said, according to the firm's release. Potts Law Firm, which describes itself as a national firm representing individuals and families in serious personal injury, wrongful death, and catastrophic injury matters, is urging owners and operators to regularly inspect their pools, promptly address potentially dangerous conditions, ensure qualified and properly trained personnel handle pool maintenance and safety, and restrict access whenever conditions may pose a risk to residents and guests.
Guerra brings a track record of high-profile Texas litigation to the case; Hoodline has previously reported on a Bexar County hazing suit he handled. As of this reporting, the named defendants have not yet filed formal answers in court, and it remains unclear whether the pool was officially open at the time of the drowning, whether required daily water chemistry logs were kept, or whether code enforcement or health inspectors had previously cited the property.
State Rules Demand Trained Operators and Daily Logs
Texas categorizes apartment complex pools as Class C public facilities, which under state regulation must be overseen by a trained certified pool operator and maintain operational logs documenting chemical levels, clarity checks, and safety equipment inspections. Texas also follows National Electrical Code Article 680, which requires Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter protection and low-voltage limits on underwater pool lighting, rules designed in part to prevent the kind of total lighting failure alleged in the Kliefoth lawsuit.
Community fundraising launched after the tragedy identified the boy as Lukas Kliefoth and has raised nearly $39,000 toward burial, medical, and counseling expenses for his family. The drowning is not an isolated incident in Travis County; in August 2024, Hoodline reported on a similar loss in Pflugerville, where a young child died at an apartment complex pool despite bystanders and first responders attempting CPR.
Drownings Remain a Leading Killer of Young Texans
The Austin case lands amid a grim statewide pattern. The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has recorded at least 65 child drownings across Texas in 2026 as of July, following 103 in 2024 and 88 in 2025. Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identifies drowning as the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 4, with unintentional drownings killing more than 4,000 people of all ages in the United States each year.
Potts Law Firm says it investigates incidents involving apartment complexes, residential and commercial pools, inadequate safety measures, negligent maintenance, and other potentially dangerous pool conditions. For the Kliefoth-Slupe family, the lawsuit now moves forward in Travis County District Court as they wait to see whether the allegations of a dark, cloudy pool will be tested and answered in court.
