HOME / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Tyre Sampson death: Lawyers say ICON park operators NOT trained to buckle riders properly

Investigators are still examining what happened on Thursday night, March 24, when the teenager dropped out of his seat from a 430-foot free-fall ride

Lawyers representing Tyre Sampson, the aspiring football player who fell to his death from a Florida amusement ride, are probing whether there was negligence on the ride operators' part ahead of the tragedy. 

Sampson, a middle school student endearing known as Big Tick, was only 14 years old but already 6 feet, 5 inches tall, and weighing well over 300 pounds. Investigators are still examining what happened on Thursday night, March 24, when the teenager dropped out of his seat from the 430-foot free-fall ride in the heart of Orlando's tourist district that is nearby Disney World.

READ MORE

Who runs ICON? Boy, 14, dies after falling from 400ft drop tower ride at Orlando park

Colorado amusement park Glenwood Caverns shuts down after girl, 6, dies at drop ride

"This young man, he was athletic and he was big. He had no way of knowing," Bob Hilliard, a Texas attorney who represents Tyre's mother, Nekia Dodd, said in an interview on Saturday, March 26. "This is going to be an issue of a lack of supervision and lack of training. A straight-up negligence case," he added.

According to the Daily Mail, video footage from the accident showed passengers discussing issues with a restraint harness. Sampson's stepmother said she had seen videos of him and his pals as they started their ascent, noting that someone was overheard saying they were not restrained to their seat. While the investigation is still underway, there are also suggestions that Tyre was not allowed on other rides at ICON park owing to various size and weight limits. "What I'm hearing is his friend was talking to him before the situation happened," devastated father Yarnell Sampson said. "He was like, he don't feel comfortable with the situation, 'The thing's not pushing down, you know what I'm saying? And if I don't make it through then tell my mom and dad I love 'em.'"

The ride slowly moved up to the top of the tower around 11 pm on Thursday, and then went into free-fall moments before someone was seen falling from their seat. The ride reportedly accommodates 30 people up to the top and then tilts so they face the ground for a couple of moments, before blasting toward the ground at speeds of 75 mph or more. An investigation is being led by the Orange County Sheriff's Office and the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which regulates amusement rides in Florida's major theme parks.

Popular civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Tyre's father Yarnell, said in a statement on Saturday that the family is "shocked and heartbroken at the loss of their son," adding, "This young man was the kind of son everyone hopes for - an honor roll student, an aspiring athlete, and a kind-hearted person who cared about others." As mentioned, Tyre was already the size of an NFL lineman at the age of 14. His family said he aspired to play pro football someday so he could uplift his family's lifestyle. "That was his dream, and he was on his way," his stepmother Wendy Wooten told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "He had so many scouts looking at him. He was going to be a great football player."

No criminal charges have been filed at the time of publication. However, a negligence or wrongful death lawsuit is quite likely. Crump said Tyre's grieving parents "'intend to get answers for Tyre's grieving family," adding, "A fun theme park visit with his football team should not have ended in tragedy," according to the Mail.