Naya Rivera: Family reaches legal settlement 2 years after "Glee" star's tragic death

The family of Glee star Naya Rivera reached a settlement in the wrongful death lawsuit they filed against Ventura County. The lawsuit was filed by the Glee star's ex-husband Ryan Dorsey in November 2020 on behalf of their six-year-old son, Josey.

"Through this settlement, Josey will receive just compensation for having to endure the death of his beloved mother in Lake Piru," the Rivera family's attorney, Amjad M. Khan of Brown Neri Smith & Khan, said in a statement reported by People magazine.

"While the tragic loss of Josey's mother can never truly be overcome, we are very pleased that the monetary settlement will significantly help Josey with his life beyond this tragedy," Khan added.

The settlement is "subject to approval by the Ventura Superior Court on March 16," said Khan.

Dorsey, 38, along with Rivera's estate sued Ventura County, California where Rivera accidentally drowned during a boating excursion with his son on Lake Piru the previous July. The county's Parks and Recreation Administration and United Water Conservation District were subsequently sued for wrongful death and negligent infliction of emotional trauma.

The lawsuit argued that Rivera's death was preventable and claimed that the boat she and her son rented on Lake Piru did not have the necessary features and equipment to meet U.S. Coast Guard safety standards.

Court documents also cited the lake's "deadly history" and stated that there was "not a single sign anywhere, not at the entrance, on the dock,at the popular Diablo Cove swimming area, anywhere, warning of the lake's strong current, poor visibility, water depth... or the trees, bushes and other debris that congest its waters due to wildly shifting tides and winds."

Rivera, who had great swimming skills, now swells the body count of "more than two dozen people who have drowned in Lake Piru since 1959," according to allegations made in the documents.

The actress, acclaimed for her character of Santana Lopez on the TV series Glee, was pronounced dead at age 33 on July 13, 2020, just five days after disappearing during a trip to the lake in Southern California.

Rivera rented a boat on the lake with her son Josey on July 8. When lake staff noticed that the boat had not returned after three hours of being rented, they searched and found the boat on the north side of the lake, with the star's son asleep on board. A search and rescue operation was immediately launched in the area. On July 9, authorities announced that Rivera was presumed dead as the search turned from a rescue mission to a recovery mission.

After several days of intense searching, her body was found. An autopsy later ruled the cause of death an accidental drowning, and authorities determined that she likely saved Josey by pulling him back aboard the boat before she died.

Rivera was buried on July 24, 2020.