A Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office investigation says septic tanks at Bruce Park repeatedly had problems with protective lids in the months leading up to the accidental death of Amari Harley in a tank during a family outing.
A septic tank that became a deathtrap at Bruce Park lacked a child-proof screw for securing the protective lid to the tank’s opening on the day that a frantic search for 3-year-old Amari Harley ended with the ghastly discovery of his body submerged in the waste-filled tank, according to a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office investigation.
The 348-page police investigation obtained by the Times-Union reveals that keeping the lids securely attached to the two septic tanks at Bruce Park was a long-running problem, requiring reinstallation of the covers more frequently than city officials previously disclosed.
Weeks before Amari died, a contractor hired by the city to inspect the septic tanks found on Sept. 12 that a lid was not on one of the tanks, according to the police report, which is contrary to reports the city released last October that made no mention of any problems at the tanks on that date.