Family of Boy Killed in NH Boat Accident Sues Boy Scouts

Keoni Hubbard, 11, of Lexington, Massachusetts was killed in a boating accident at a Boy Scout camp in New Hampshire in 2023. (Sweeney Merrigan Law Photo)

The family of a young Boy Scout who died after being struck by a boat propeller on a New Hampshire lake in 2023 has filed a lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America.

Keoni Hubbard, an 11-year-old scout from Troop 119 in Lexington, Massachusetts, died of his injuries at the scene after being struck by a boat propeller at Camp Bell on Manning Lake in Gilmanton, New Hampshire on July 7, 2023.

Court documents state the boat’s propeller struck Keoni while he was swimming in the lake.

The lawsuit filed on Tuesday on behalf of Keoni’s parents, John and Jena Hubbard, claims Keoni was one of eight Boy Scouts on a 21’ powerboat, and it says the driver was an 18-year-old who received his boating license 10 days earlier.

The suit alleges the driver had undergone less than one hour of training from the Griswold Reservation’s director and did not receive the reservation’s water-ski syllabus or basic waterfront training.

A report from the New Hampshire Marine Patrol cited a lack of training, failure in basic safety precautions, and failure in oversight by the Boy Scouts of America, the Griswold Scout Reservation, the Daniel Webster Council, Camp Bell, and Troop 119. The suit states that placed the boat operator and scouts “in a dangerous and untenable position.”