Family Sues Royal Caribbean After Death Ruled A Homicide
The family of a California man who died aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise in December 2024 has filed a lawsuit against the cruise line, claiming that the company is responsible for his death. The wrongful death suit comes…
The family of a California man who died aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise in December 2024 has filed a lawsuit against the cruise line, claiming that the company is responsible for his death. The wrongful death suit comes seven months after a medical examiner ruled the death a homicide.
Michael Virgil, 35, had boarded Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas with his fiancée and young son on December 13, 2024, for a short four-day cruise from Los Angeles to Ensenada, Mexico. According to the lawsuit, what began as a family vacation quickly turned tragic.
The complaint, filed in federal court in Florida, claims that Virgil was overserved alcohol and then restrained by crew members in a way that led to his death. His family alleges that the crew gave him at least 33 alcoholic drinks in a matter of hours and then used excessive force when he became disoriented while trying to find his cabin.
The lawsuit says that when the family first boarded the ship, their cabin was not ready, so they were told to wait in a bar with live music. Virgil’s fiancée left the bar with their then 7-year-old son, who has autism, to check on the room, while Virgil remained behind.
Not long after, the suit claims, Virgil became intoxicated and confused. He reportedly began looking for his cabin but was unable to locate it. At that point, cruise security allegedly intervened.
The complaint says security tackled and restrained Virgil and that multiple crew members held him down. It also alleges that he was injected with a sedative, Haloperidol, and sprayed with pepper spray during the incident. According to the lawsuit, the restraint and chemical use caused respiratory failure, heart problems, and ultimately led to Virgil’s death.
A medical examiner later ruled the cause of death to be the “combined effects of mechanical asphyxia, obesity, cardiomegaly, and ethanol intoxication.” The ruling said that Virgil’s injuries were caused by body compression during restraint by multiple ship security officers and from high levels of alcohol in his system.
His body remained on board in a refrigerated space until the ship returned to Los Angeles on December 16, 2024.