Cancun Hotel Found Liable for 2021 Death of Arlington Firefighter

Jury returns $31.175 million verdict, finds that resort failed to follow safety, security protocols

A Tarrant County jury has returned a $31.175 million verdict against the ownership and management companies of the Royalton Chic resort in Cancun, finding the property negligent for the death of 35-year-old Arlington firefighter Elijah Snow in 2021.

According to the lawsuit filed in 2022 by his widow, Jamie, Snow’s body was discovered stuck in a small window at a neighboring property in the region’s luxury hotel zone with “considerable” bruises, cuts and scratches on his head, back, legs, hand and arms. The cause of death was ruled to be suffocation.

Throughout the prior day, Snow and other guests were served beer, mixed alcoholic drinks and hard liquor shots and were encouraged by the hotel’s bartenders to become “extremely intoxicated without regard to guest safety,” the lawsuit stated. After eating dinner and consuming more alcohol, Snow’s wife went to the couple’s room and, expecting him to return shortly, fell asleep.

On awakening in the early morning hours to find her husband missing, Ms. Snow made a series of contacts with hotel management and local authorities in an effort to locate her husband, whose body was discovered several hours later.

Jurors heard evidence that the hotel failed to follow internal policies regarding missing person reports and failed to follow other security procedures to protect hotel guests during a period of increased criminal activity in the area.

“We’ll likely never know for certain all of the details of Elijah’s tragic death, but we do know that the Royalton, its management and staff contributed to that tragedy with the utter disregard for his safety,” says Ms. Snow’s attorney, Wes Bearden of the firm of J.W. Bearden & Associates.

“Jamie and their two children have suffered in every imaginable way. This verdict will not bring Elijah back, but perhaps it will cause this resort and others to become more responsible in the training of their staff, the security technology they use and the practices they follow.”

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250612099108/en/

“We’ll likely never know for certain all of the details of Elijah’s tragic death, but we do know that the Royalton, its management and staff contributed to that tragedy with the utter disregard for his safety,” says Ms. Snow’s attorney, Wes Bearden.