A federal jury in St. Louis has handed down a $25 million verdict against Bestway USA Inc., ruling that the company’s defectively designed above-ground pool played a major role in the tragic drowning of a 2-year-old girl.

The verdict, reached on Friday, found that Bestway’s 51-inch-tall pool featured a dangerous design flaw that allowed toddlers to climb over its walls using a nylon strap encircling the structure. The jury further determined that the company failed to warn consumers of this hazard, ultimately placing 65% of the liability on Bestway for the wrongful death of Ellieanna Justice, who drowned on August 3, 2019, in Warren County, Missouri.

A Climbable Design with Deadly Consequences

Attorney Jake Plattenberger of TorHoerman Law, representing Ellieanna’s parents, Annaleah and Kyle Justice, emphasized how quickly a small child could scale the pool’s walls. “A toddler can climb this kind of pool in seconds,” he said. “The parents have endured this legal battle for longer than their child was alive. Their only goal was to push for a design change to prevent future tragedies.”

Throughout the trial, Plattenberger presented compelling evidence, including haunting photos of child-sized footprints in the mud on the pool’s exterior—Ellieanna’s last marks before she tragically slipped into the water.

Bestway’s Defense Falls Flat

Bestway attempted to challenge the evidence, arguing that the prints were mere circumstantial clues and insufficient to prove how Ellieanna entered the pool. In a motion for summary judgment, the company dismissed the theory as speculative, claiming the footprints were “hardly probative.”

During the trial, Bestway even criticized the evidence’s validity, stating that the parents had failed to “measure” the prints. Plattenberger was quick to call out the absurdity of this argument: “This is a classic example of nonsense. Only a lawyer could try to make something so obvious sound complicated. I think the defense lost credibility with this argument—no one else was struggling to see what was tragically clear.”

A Legal Battle Fraught with Accusations

The Justice family initially filed suit in January 2022, naming not only Bestway but also Rural King Holdings LLP, the farm supply retailer where the pool was purchased. Rural King, however, distanced itself from the case under Missouri’s Innocent Seller statute, which shields retailers from liability in cases where the fault lies with the manufacturer.

Meanwhile, Bestway sought to deflect blame onto Ellieanna’s grandparents, arguing that they failed to properly secure the pool area with fencing or provide adequate supervision. The company pursued these claims against the grandparents until last month, when it voluntarily dismissed them with prejudice.

By December 2024, Rural King was officially absolved of any liability, leaving Bestway as the sole defendant when the trial commenced on February 24. After roughly six hours of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the parents.

A Verdict That Brings Justice and Change

“In cases like this, no verdict can truly make the parents whole again,” Plattenberger said. “But this decision brings them one step closer to closure.”

In a statement following the verdict, he added, “We are honored to have stood by the Justice family. While no ruling can undo their heartbreak, we hope this verdict pushes for safer pool designs and prevents similar tragedies in the future.”

Legal Representation

Bestway USA Inc. is represented by David P. Bub and Brandon B. Copeland of Watters Wolf Bub & Hansmann LLC.

The Justices are represented by Eric M. Terry, Kenneth J. Brennan, Jacob W. Plattenberger, and Alan Holcomb of TorHoerman Law LLC.