scorecard
  1. Home
  2. international
  3. news
  4. Officials say a toddler ingested and died of a fentanyl overdose in an Airbnb. Her parents are now suing the company.

Officials say a toddler ingested and died of a fentanyl overdose in an Airbnb. Her parents are now suing the company.

Kenneth Niemeyer   

Officials say a toddler ingested and died of a fentanyl overdose in an Airbnb. Her parents are now suing the company.
International2 min read
  • Court records say a family is suing Airbnb after their toddler died of an alleged fentanyl overdose.
  • The 19-month-old Enora Lavenir was unresponsive after taking a nap for two hours in the unit.

A French family is suing Airbnb after saying their toddler ingested fentanyl and died of an overdose during their vacation in Florida in 2021, according to court records.

Lydie Lavenir's 19-month-old daughter, Enora, died inside an Airbnb in August 2021 after she became unresponsive during a nap, Lavenir told The Washington Post. Enora had been asleep for around two hours after watching television and playing with her siblings in the morning, according to The Post.

The family's lawsuit, which they filed in Palm Beach County, Florida, claims wrongful death against Airbnb, the landlord, and previous renters of the unit, court records show.

The Post said that a toxicology report from the Palm Beach County medical examiner showed a lethal amount of fentanyl in the toddler's body. The toxicology readings indicated a quick death and ruled out the possibility that Enora came in contact with fentanyl before she entered the Airbnb, according to the lawsuit.

Lavenir and her husband, Boris, told The Post that they had never heard of the drug before and that they felt like their family "fell into a trap."

A spokesperson for Airbnb told Insider that the previous renters of the unit did not book through Airbnb, and that the Lavenirs were the first renters to book the unit through the app.

"Our hearts go out to the Lavenir family and their loved ones for their devastating loss," the spokesperson said.

Vrbo — an online travel site that the previous renters used — did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.

Police are unsure how Enora ingested fentanyl inside the Airbnb unit. Police did not find any more fentanyl inside the Airbnb, and her parents tested negative for the drug, The Post said, citing police reports.

The lawsuit says that the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Department responded to a "large loud party" at the house on July 19, 2021.

Investigators questioned previous renters of the Airbnb, one of which admitted to throwing a party in the unit where cocaine was present, but police could not link the drugs to Enora's death, The Post reported.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Department did not immediately return Insider's request for comment Saturday.

Thomas Scolaro, a Miami-based attorney representing the family, told The Post that he believes partygoers in the Airbnb brought fentanyl, but he said finding the source of the fentanyl is not his main concern.

"It was definitely in that unit, that Airbnb," Scolaro told The Post. "Which particular person left the drugs is, frankly, not anything I'm trying to prove. What I want to show is Airbnb provided no cleanup, no warning, no measure of safety for the family."

Scolaro did not immediately return Insider's request for comment. The family is seeking an undisclosed amount, according to court records.


Advertisement

Advertisement