Calif. jury awards $16M in radio contestant death

Calif. jury awards $16M to family of woman who died after radio station water-drinking contest

• On 9:00 am EDT, Friday October 30, 2009

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- A Sacramento County jury has awarded $16.5 million to the family of a 28-year-old woman who died after participating in a radio station's water-drinking contest.

Jennifer Strange, a mother of three, died of acute water intoxication in January 2007 after the challenge to see which contestant could drink the most water without going to the bathroom. A Nintendo Wii video game system was the prize for winning the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest.

On Thursday, jurors found Entercom Sacramento LLC, a subsidiary of Philadelphia-based Entercom Communications Corp., liable for the actions of its employees at Sacramento radio station KDND-FM. The station fired 10 employees after the death.