Family of woman killed in alligator attack sues housing company alleging negligence
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The family of a Florida woman killed by an alligator last year while walking her dog in her backyard is suing the owner of the housing complex, claiming employees fed the alligator and didn’t let it out of the neighborhood retention pond to delete.
Gloria Serge’s family filed suit Thursday against Wynne Building Corp., owner of the Spanish Lakes senior housing complex in Fort Pierce, where she lived for nearly three decades. Serge, an 85-year-old widow, drowned on Feb. 20 after a 10-foot alligator, which residents nicknamed “Henry,” grabbed her by the ankle and dragged her to the retention pond where the reptile had lived for months.
The family’s attorneys, Gary Lesser and Joshua Ferraro, said at a news conference that Spanish Lakes employees routinely fed Henry chicken and other foods, reducing fear of people, and never called the state hotline that summoned trappers to avoid potentially dangerous remove alligators. They also claim that Spanish Lakes threatened to evict Serge if she walked her dog, Trooper, on the street, a violation of the complex’s rules. That left her no choice but to let Trooper out in her backyard next to the pond, they said.
The company also failed to warn residents about the alligators and installed docks and benches on the water, leading Serge and other residents to believe the reptiles did not pose a serious threat.
“This incident was 100% preventable,” Lesser said. “If Spanish Lakes had taken any measure of common sense and reasonable action, Gloria would be here today.”
Bill Serge, the victim’s 62-year-old son, said he and his four siblings are emotionally devastated by their mother’s death.
“The sudden and violent nature of this attack, which left me thinking of my mother in her final moments, resulted in a whole other level of all-consuming grief,” he said.
Wynne and Spanish Lakes officials did not immediately respond to a phone call and email seeking comment Thursday. The lawsuit filed in state court seeks unspecified damages.
Although more than a million alligators live in Florida, fatal attacks are rare, even as human encroachment on their habitat increases. According to the latest statistics from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conversation Commission, the state had 453 alligator attacks from 1948 through 2022, 26 of which were fatal — about one death every three years. Serge and another woman were murdered last year.
“Never feed an alligator. It is illegal and dangerous,” said commission spokesperson Lauren Claerbout. “When alligators are fed, they can lose their natural wariness and instead learn to associate humans with the availability of food. This can lead to dangerous conditions for yourself and others.”
Surveillance video obtained by the TV show “Inside Edition” shows Gloria Serge and Trooper standing about three feet from the water’s edge, unaware that the alligator quickly swam toward them before jumping out of the water. Trooper jumped out of the way, but the alligator grabbed Serge.
Carol Thomas, a neighbor, told WPEC-TV last year that she heard a commotion, looked outside and saw the alligator pulling Serge into the water.
“She came up for air, pushed her hair back, you know, out of her eyes and her arm was out,” Thomas said. She said she told Serge to swim to a nearby paddle boat, but “she said ‘can’t.’ The alligator has me! ”
Thomas said she ran to grab a pole to hit the alligator, but by the time she got back, Serge had gone underwater.
‘You can’t do anything. I’m just kind of haunted by it, you know, I don’t know what I could have done differently,” Thomas said.
Serge’s body was recovered and the alligator was trapped and euthanized.
“No one should ever have to experience what my mother had to endure that day. No child should have to bury their mother under such terrible conditions,” said Bill Serge.