> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Guardian of victim left the party to attend a concert
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/guardian-of-victim-left-the-party-to-attend-a-concert/
- Published: 2003-04-09T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T02:03:52.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Events, Santa Monica, #archive-import

concerned for the safety of the children, he said, “If they were alone it would be my problem. They weren’t.”

He said he felt responsible for the safety of his two children and kept an eye on them at all times.

Under questioning by one of his own lawyers, Robin Webb, Lee repeatedly placed the responsibility for the children on their guardians. He also said that when he built the lavish pool at his estate his aim was “making it very child-friendly.”

Another Lee attorney, James Baratta, showed a video of the pool during his opening statement and described the gathering for preschoolers as child-friendly, not an adult environment as described by the attorney for Daniel’s parents.

Girardi said in his opening statement that Daniel’s parents were unaware he would be swimming. There was one life jacket, and Lee gave it to his own son, Girardi said.

Girardi said Lee planned the party at the last minute because his estranged wife, actress Pamela Anderson, had a party for Brandon the week before.

“Mr. Lee decided to throw a party, too,” Girardi said. “But this was a party for his pals. The pictures show guys with tattoos.”

Lee’s attorney countered that the party was carefully arranged, that Lee hired a magician, arranged for a petting zoo and a Buzz Lightyear character to entertain the children.

“This was not a drinking party.... This wasn’t a Hollywood party. This was a children’s party. Mr. Lee invited people who had children,” Baratta said.

> “This was not a drinking party.... This wasn’t a Hollywood party.” — — JAMES BARATTA Lee’s attorney

He said that every child came with a parent or babysitter to look after them.

Girardi said Daniel’s parents sent him to the party with a male caretaker, an exchange student from Germany. The tragedy occurred after Daniel’s babysitter decided to leave the party and entrusted the boy’s care to another family’s nanny, both lawyers said.

The German caregiver, named Christian, has disappeared and will not be a witness, they said.

Baratta said the young man wanted to leave to attend a concert and the little boy insisted on staying because the magic show had not yet gone on.

“Mr. Lee did not say he was going to have a lifeguard to look after the children. These were babies,” Lee’s attorney said.

“Like any other party the children are being supervised by the adults who brought them,” Baratta said.

Girardi saw it differently. “This is a total, reckless disregard, an absolutely stupid way these little 4-year-old children came to this house.... He invited all these kids over to offset the Pamela Anderson party of the week before and there’s nobody watching these kids,” he said.

Lee called 911 but efforts to revive the child were unsuccessful.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 9, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/040903.pdf?ref=smdp.com)