Family of man who drowned in Winter Park lake suing teen boat driver

Winter Park, Fla. - The parents of a 20-year-old Orange County man have filed a lawsuit following their son's death on Memorial Day in 2021.

Charles "Harry" Carter drowned in Lake Osceola after he got off a boat to swim and never resurfaced, authorities said. His parents are now suing the teen who was driving the boat he was on when he drowned and also suing that teen's parents.

The Orange County Sheriff's Marine Unit located Carter's body inside Lake Osceola in May 2021 after he drowned. According to the lawsuit, Powell and Nancy Brown were having a Memorial Day party in their Winter Park home where there was underage drinking.

The lawsuit claims that the Brown's 18-year-old son, Preston Brown, along with Carter and other teenagers got on the family's boat where it said they were drinking beer and hard liquor. The lawsuit alleges Preston was driving the boat drunk and Carter was "highly intoxicated" though Preston has not been charged with a DUI.

The lawsuit states Carter "involuntarily" got in the water and because he was so drunk, "he never made his way back to the surface as he sank to the bottom of the lake, drowned, and died," it said in the lawsuit.

You can read the lawsuit here.