A 77-year-old grandfather and Marine Corps veteran, Terril Johnson, tragically died after he was allegedly “boiled alive” in a hotel bathtub at the Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites near San Jose Airport.
According to a wrongful death lawsuit filed in the Superior Court of California on October 15, Johnson’s family found him “unresponsive” and “partially submerged in scalding water so hot they couldn’t touch him without burning themselves.” He had been in town to attend his granddaughter’s graduation from San Jose State University.
The family said they “struggled desperately to save him,” watching in horror as his skin peeled away from his body. First responders pronounced him dead at the scene.
The Santa Clara County Medical Examiner confirmed Johnson suffered “severe scalding burns of the neck, torso, and extremities complicating hypertension,” with burns covering about 33.5% of his body.
The lawsuit claims the hotel violated California’s plumbing code, which requires showers and tubs to have valves that limit maximum water temperature. The family described the incident as a “horrific and entirely preventable tragedy” and is seeking unspecified damages through a jury trial.
Originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana, Johnson was a husband, father of two, and grandfather of four. After serving in the Vietnam War, he pursued higher education at Indiana Tech and Ivy Tech, where he later taught. His family remembers him as “a devoted husband, father, and grandfather, remembered for his faith, work ethic, and love for family and community.”
