SAN DIEGO (CN) - The State of California asked a San Diego Superior Court judge to dismiss claims against it on Friday in a lawsuit over the tragic death of a 12-year-old girl who was struck and killed by a jet ski in Mission Bay in 2023 while using a paddleboard.

Ashley and Mark Peterson say in their amended complaint that the city and state knew De Anza Cove - a narrow, multi-use area of Mission Bay - violated state law and created dangerous conditions, but failed to prevent the accident from occurring.

The state denied liability in the case, arguing it transferred control of Mission Bay to the City of San Diego in 1945. While it retains regulatory authority over state waters, a state attorney said it bears no responsibility for accidents there and urged Superior Court Judge Wendy Behan to rule in its favor.

Petersons' attorney, Jacqueline DiRubbo of Hoffman & Forde, countered that the state still exercises significant control over subdivisions like San Diego.

"We're talking about supervision and control of this area of the water," DiRubbo told the courtroom. "We haven't sold the land to Canada or Mexico. You granted it to the city. I don't think they've abdicated complete ownership."

DiRubbo compared the area to a busy road, where there are fast lanes, slow lanes and bike lanes for different types of drivers. 

"In the area this occurred, you're allowed to have bathers and paddle boarders," she said. "You also have a personal watercraft going 60 miles per hour. Our decedent was lawfully using a paddleboard, and there was a boat launch very near to this area."

The plaintiffs describe the area as a death trap in their complaint.

"It was narrow and it was mixed use," DiRubbo told the courtroom. "The city and the state knew about this."

The Petersons' daughter was struck from behind by a jet ski around 2 p.m. on July 21, 2023, suffering fatal rib, skull and brain injuries. The driver, Arsanyous Ghaly, who was 18 at the time, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2024.

The family says in their complaint that lifeguards warned Ghaly and a passenger for speeding in a 5 mph zone about eight minutes earlier, and argues their daughter might have survived if officials had taken stronger action and removed them from the water.

Ghaly and his friends rented the jet skis through OfferUp, a rental app also named as a defendant in the case. DiRubbo argued that the state retains a partial ownership interest because San Diego must obtain state regulatory approval to maintain and dredge the artificial bay.

The state countered that regulatory authority does not equal ownership. In a tentative ruling, Behan agreed with the state.

"As the court sees it, plaintiff conflates what is the state's retained regulatory authority with actual operation control, which was granted to the city in 1945," she wrote. "Any retained regulatory authority over the area does not render the state responsible for it as the state's property, but instead allows the state to regulate submerged lands or tidelands for the greater public interest."

Behan compared the Petesons' lawsuit to another in which a mother brought legal action against a city after her child drowned in a privately owned pool. 

In a statement provided to Courthouse News, Hoffman & Forde said that it will continue to hold the state accountable for the incident. 

"The Peterson family continues to seek to hold the persons and public entities responsible for the dangerous, and too often deadly, conditions that exist in Mission Bay," Hoffman & Forde said in a statement to Courthouse News. "The state cannot both exercise control, have knowledge of the dangerous condition, and avoid responsibility over the recreational use of the state tidelands."

Attorneys for the city and state did not respond for comment.

Source: Courthouse News Service