Family of Teen Who Fatally Fell from Orlando Amusement Ride Hires High-Profile Attorneys

Nick Gilbertson

A pair of high-profile personal injury attorneys, Ben Crump and Bob Hilliard, have announced they were separately retained by the family of Tyre Sampson, the 14-year-old boy who authorities say fell to his death from an amusement park ride at ICON Park in Orlando, Florida, on Thursday.

Tyre, of Missouri, was visiting Orlando with another family when he fell from the Orlando Free Fall drop tower ride at ICON Park, Orange County Sheriff Joe Mina told reporters Friday.

“Our role in this situation is to determine whether or not this is an accident or an intentional act and this does appear just to be a terrible tragedy,” Mina said. 

A Saturday press release shared to Twitter by Ben Crump Law announced the boy’s father, Yarnell Sampson, hired Crump, who has frequently represented families of individuals killed by police, including the family of George Floyd, Breitbart News previously reported.

In the release, Crump stated:

This family is shocked and heartbroken at the loss of their son. This young man was the kind of son every parent hopes for – an honor roll student, an aspiring athlete, and a kind-hearted person who cared about others. Needless to say, his family is absolutely devastated. A fun theme park visit with his football team should not have ended in tragedy. Bob Hilliard and I, on behalf of both parents, Yarnell and Nikki, intend to get answers for Tyre’s grieving family and request prayers as they shoulder this unthinkable loss.

According to the release, Tyre’s mother, Nekia Dodd, hired Hilliard of the Texas-based law firm Hilliard Martinez Gonzalez. The attorney said: 

Families have a right to expect these national theme parks, making millions of dollars, will keep their children safe and will put safety above all else. Every parent who sees this horrific video can’t help but think the same thing, ‘That could have been my child.’ What unimaginable terror did 14-year-old Tyre experience as he slipped out of his unsecured harness and fell helplessly towards his own death?

Neama Rahmani, a personal injury lawyer and former United State attorney, told Fox News Digital there is “no question” ICON park will be held liable.

“Not only do they have a duty to make sure that the rides are safe, you’re talking about a minor, right?” Rahmani said. “They have an absolute responsibility to make sure that their rides are safe. I mean, minors are riding that.”

He added that the park only has one argument, which “could easily inflame a jury.”

Rahmani said:

The only possible defense would be some sort of contributory negligence or comparative negligence and assumption of the risk that this child knew the seatbelt was unsafe and chose to ride anyway. It’s a very weak argument, and it could easily inflame a jury. You’re talking about a child, right?

Yarnell Sampson described the utter anguish he is experiencing over the loss of his son, WESH reported.

It felt like somebody hit me so hard in my stomach. I just lost, I lost, lost wind. And the pain behind it could never be taken away, and sorry’s not gonna take it back and no monies, no nothing in the world to replace the young man. And it’s just sad, a young man’s bright future was taken away from him over a ride, an amusement park.

While speaking with WOFL, he said his 6’04, 340 lb son was denied entry to other rides but was welcomed aboard the Orlando Free Fall.

“This one particular ride said, ‘We can take you, come on! Get on!’ No one else allowed him to get on the ride, so I’m wondering what happened between now and then that made them say, ‘Come on, get this ride!” Sampson said.

He said Tyre felt something was not right as the ride ascended.

He was panicking when he was going up. When the ride took off, that’s when he was feeling uncomfortable. He was like, ‘What’s going on?’ That’s when he started freaking out, and he was explaining to his friend next to him, ‘I don’t know man. If I don’t make it down, please tell my Mom and Daddy I love them.’ For him to say something like that, he must have felt something.

Video footage from the aftermath of the incident purports to show a crewmember asking coworkers if they followed protocol.

“You guys are sure you checked him?” she seems to ask.

In a now-deleted press release from last October, ICON said the attraction was scheduled to open in December and stand as “the world’s tallest free-standing drop tower,” Breitbart News reported.

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) is investigating the incident, WOFL said. The agency released a report Friday showing “both the drop tower and slingshot “super rides” were inspected, approved and permitted Dec. 20, 2021, the same day they opened,” WKMG-TV reported

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