Parents of Tyre Sampson who fell to death from amusement park ride reach settlement
Gregory Robinson
Featured Image Credit: Fox 365 Orlando/Tribune Content Agency LLC / Alamy Stock Photo
The parents of a teenager who died at an amusement park have reached a settlement.
Tyre Sampson, 14, fell to his death from a 430-foot-ride at Orlando's ICON Park on 24 March 2022.
In an accident report released shortly after the Missouri teen's death it was confirmed that Sampson came out of his seat after boarding the FreeFall ride attraction at the park.
His 'harness was still in a down and locked position when the ride stopped', the report stated.
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The ride opened in December 2021 and was touted as the world's tallest free-standing drop tower, which takes up to 30 guests high into the air before dropping 400 feet at 70mph.
As the attraction rises, the vehicle rotates around a central tower before tilting forward to allow riders to face the ground ahead of the free-fall.
Sampson was seen falling from the ride as it dropped, prompting witnesses in the area to call emergency services. Several law enforcement officers, firefighters and paramedics responded to the scene.
Orange County Sheriff’s Office said the incident took place at around 11:10PM local time, after which the teenager was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.
Following Sampson's death, the ride is now in the process of being demolished. Nekia Dodd, Sampson's mother, visited the park for the first time this month almost a year since her son died.
Dodd spoke about her 'devastating' loss in a press conference streamed by Fox 35: "My son took his last breath on this ride, so it's heartbreaking, it's devastating, it's a feeling I hope no other parent will ever have to go through after this ride comes down," she said.
"When he passed, I wasn't there for him."
Dodd and Yarnell Sampson, Tyre's father, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the amusement park, ride manufacturer Fun Time Thrill Rides, the SlingShot Group which owns the ride and Gerstlauer Amusement Rides, the group that manufactured the seats and harnesses.
Sampson was described as an 'honor-roll student and football player', in the complaint, who was on a Spring Break trip when the accident happened.
Dodd and her attorney Michael Haggard confirmed that an undisclosed settlement had been reached between the park and Slingshot Group.
Orlando Slingshot's Ritchie Armstrong said in a statement: "We are devastated by Tyre's death. We have listened to the wishes of Tyre's family and the community and have made the decision to take down the FreeFall."