PROVIDENCE — The family of the 9-year-old boy who drowned in a city pool in August is seeking $15 million from the city, according to a wrongful death claim filed in City Hall.

Jameson Auciel, formerly of 461 Elmwood Ave., died on Aug. 20, three days after he was pulled unconscious from the McGrane Pool in the city’s West End.

Jameson had been floating face down in the 3- to 4-foot public pool on Bucklin Street. His cousin, Gamaelle Bazelais, 8, also of 461 Elmwood Ave., was also found floating face down and unconscious in the pool. Both were rushed to Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence.

City officials and police have not offered specifics on what transpired at the pool that day that ultimately led to Jameson’s death and the near-drowning of his cousin. A state medical examiner’s report completed Sept. 4 determined that Jameson died of a lack of oxygen to the brain brought on by drowning.

“The family wants answers,” said Kenneth A. Schreiber, the Cranston-based lawyer representing Jameson’s family. “This is the first step in a long road” to get those answers, he said.

In its Sept. 14 claim against the city, the Auciel family says that a “reckless and grossly negligent act” by one or more city employees led to Jameson’s death. The suit is actually three separate claims of $5 million each filed by the Estate of Jameson Auciel, Carline Myrthil (Jameson’s mother), and Karlveen Auciel (his younger brother).

“It’s a clear case of negligence,” said Schreiber. He declined to elaborate, saying he was still in the “investigation stage.”

According to the city Law Department, the city has 40 days from when the claim was filed to issue a response. After that, the plaintiff can file suit in Superior Court.

Schreiber anticipated filing a Superior Court suit by the end of the year if the city rejects the family’s claim. “There is a value to filing suit, namely court mechanisms like depositions and subpoenas at are our disposal to get certain documents that we don’t currently have,” he said.

David A. Bagus, the North Smithfield-based lawyer representing Gamaelle’s family, said that family has chosen not to file a claim against the city at this point.

Bagus said that the family is concerned about the girl’s physical, mental and emotional state. “She’s being evaluated. We just don’t know where she’s at. She spent three and a half days in a coma, so there are the cognitive issues with that. She was very close to her cousin, so there are the emotional issues with that.”

Bagus said that the family anticipates that the city will try to cast blame on Odin Bazelais, Gamaelle’s father, since he was the adult that dropped off the two children and Jameson’s brother Karlveen at the pool that day and briefly left to run errands.

But Bazelais cannot be faulted, said Bagus, because he was turned away at the pool’s entrance because he was not wearing a bathing suit, which was a requirement at the McGrane Pool. More than two weeks after the August incident, Mayor David N. Cicilline’s office and the Police Department issued a joint report on the drowning.

In it, the city and police concluded that the pool had capacity for 270 bathers, and that 25 to 45 swimmers were there at the time. With three lifeguards on duty, and nine other staffers present, the pool was adequately supervised, the report said.

But witnesses said that one of the lifeguards was wearing headphones and that at least one staff member ignored entreaties from a pool patron to check on the floating kids. Other witnesses said they thought the children were just pretending to drown.

Jameson, who was 5 feet tall, was found first, floating in water at one end of the pool. The lifeguards, all juveniles, pulled him out and administered CPR. Gamaelle was discovered a short time later, and was also administered CPR.

It’s not clear who first determined that the children were unresponsive in the pool. Gamaelle was revived on the scene, but Jameson was not.

pmarcelo@projo.com