After fatal alligator attack in private Hilton Head community, family settles lawsuit
The family of a Hilton Head Island woman who was killed by an alligator in 2023 has agreed to settle a wrongful death lawsuit through a “confidential sum” paid by her former private community and its management company.
Holly Jenkins, a 69-year-old Spanish Wells resident, was fatally attacked by a roughly 10-foot alligator the morning of July 4, 2023 after she left the house to walk her dog. Her husband and son found her lying face down in one of the community’s ponds while the alligator swam nearby, according to court filings.
Justin Jenkins, Holly’s husband of 45 years, filed a wrongful death lawsuit the following year against the Spanish Wells Club, its property owners association and G.W. Services, a local property management company that is contracted by the community.
The three defendants offered to settle the lawsuit “solely to buy their peace from litigation and save the expense of trial,” according to a settlement approval order filed Tuesday in Beaufort County court.
Holly Jenkins lived on Hilton Head for nearly 35 years and was well-known in her neighborhood for her event-planning skills and festively decorated home, according to her obituary.
“Holly had a seemingly effortless talent for creating unforgettable experiences,” her obituary read. “It did not matter if it was a school party, a dinner for the high-level executives or the Spanish Wells Annual 4th of July parade and picnic, each was amazingly executed.”
Spanish Wells’ annual July 4 parade and picnic, community events Holly Jenkins had spearheaded for years, were both canceled in the wake of the morning tragedy. The hundreds of hot dogs in the Jenkins’ refrigerator were donated to local firemen, according to previous reporting.
The Spanish Wells Club, G.W. Services and the Columbia-based lawyers representing the Jenkins estate did not respond to requests for comment from The Island Packet on Thursday.
Details of the alligator attack
Court documents said Holly Jenkins was attacked by the alligator after she left the family’s home on Brams Point Road to walk her dog around the neighborhood the morning of July 4, 2023.
Jenkins’ son and husband saw the family dog with its leash in the backyard around 8 a.m., but “Holly was nowhere to be found,” the lawsuit said. After they found Jenkins and were waiting for first responders, her son “was forced to distract the alligator” to keep it away from his mother, according to the complaint.
Authorities pronounced Jenkins dead at the scene, but court documents say she did not die in the initial attack. The alligator was euthanized by state wildlife officials, and a necropsy of the animal revealed Jenkins’ hand and foot in its stomach, the lawsuit said. The lawsuit added Jenkins would have been careful walking around the community because she was a “cautious person” who had warned families with children “about the threat posed by alligators in the community.”
Suit alleged Spanish Wells made ‘no effort’ to protect residents
The now-settled lawsuit claimed the three defendants contributed to Jenkins’ “gruesome and senseless” death by failing to remove nuisance alligators from the neighborhood, including the “predatory” 10-foot reptile that was euthanized after the 2023 attack. It also cited a lack of signage warning residents about alligators and the community’s failure to consult with a wildlife expert to mitigate the risk of the native reptiles. Court documents highlighted an email sent to Spanish Wells homeowners by property management in 2016 saying a “large alligator” had been spotted in the community. The email asked residents to keep a lookout and said the “proper measures” were being taken by Spanish Wells Club.
But as alligator sightings in Spanish Wells increased in the following years, the community made “no effort” to identify nuisance alligators and “woefully underestimated” the number of depredation tags needed to protect its residents, the lawsuit alleged.
Alligator attacks spur lawsuits in Beaufort County
The lawsuit was the most recent in a series of civil cases blaming Beaufort County’s private communities for alligator attacks.
In 2023, Sun City Hilton Head was sued by the son of an 88-year-old woman who was killed by an alligator after she slipped into a pond while gardening in the gated community. The lawsuit was dismissed about five months after its filing, according to judicial records, and it was unclear whether a settlement was reached outside of court.
Three people have been killed by alligators in Beaufort County since 2018, and five other non-fatal attacks were recorded in the same period. Most incidents involve victims who were walking their dogs near a pond or lagoon.
State officials consider an alligator a nuisance when it loses its fear of humans — usually due to unlawful feeding — or when it poses risks to people or property.
For nuisance gators over 4 feet, the South Carolina Department of Resources grants tags to property owners and POAs, each of which allows for a professional euthanization. Statewide, a few hundred nuisance alligators are killed per year as part of the program.
