Lawyers representing a rising middle school football player who fell to his death from a towering Florida amusement ride are trying to understand if there was negligence on behalf of the ride operators or if the teens size or other factors, played a role in the tragedy.
Tyre Sampson, from Missouri, who was known at Big Tick to his friends, was only 14-years-old but already 6 feet, 5 inches tall and weighed well over 300 pounds.
‘This young man, he was athletic and he was big. He had no way of knowing,’ said Bob Hilliard, a Texas attorney who represents Tyre’s mother, Nekia Dodd, in an interview on Saturday.
‘This is going to be an issue of a lack of supervision and lack of training. A straight-up negligence case.’
Tyre Sampson, seen far right, was identified as 14-year-old ICON Park victim who fell to his death from world’s tallest drop ride in Orlando on Thursday night
Tyre’s stepmother has also said that he was a rising middle school football player
His father, Yarnell Sampson, says that Tyre knew something was wrong on his way up the ride
Attorneys Ben Crump, left, and Bob Hilliard have been hired to represent the family of Tyre Sampson
Crump, who is acting on behalf of the family, sent out a Tweet sending condolences
Investigators on Saturday continued to examine what happened on Thursday night when Sampson dropped out of his seat from a 430-foot, free-fall amusement park ride that is taller than the Statue of Liberty along a busy street in the heart of Orlando’s tourist district not far from Disney World.
Video of the accident showed passengers on the ride as they discussed issues with an over-the-shoulder restraint harness.
Sampson’s stepmother said that she has seen videos of Tyre and his friends as they started their ascent with someone could be overheard saying that he was not restrained in his seat.
Details are still vague but there are suggestions that Tyre was turned away at other rides at ICON because of various size and weight limits.
‘What I’m hearing is his friend was talking to him before the situation happened,’ his 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.”
Tyre was a giant for his age, already the size of an NFL offensive lineman. His family says he aspired to play pro football
Tyre Sampson, who fell to his death while on the Orlando Free Fall drop tower at Orlando’s ICON Park on Thursday night is pictured in a family photo
Tyre Sampson with family members in a photo posted by his mother Nekia Dodd on Facebook
Inspectors from the Florida Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services examine the Free Fall ride
The ride then began rotating as it moved up the towertrek up the tower around 11pm on Thursday before someone is later seen falling from the ride.
The ride takes 30 people up to that height and then tilts so they face the ground for a moment or two, and then plummets toward the ground at speeds of 75 mph or more.
The well-known civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is working with Hilliard and represents Tyre’s father, Yarnell Sampson, said the family is ‘shocked and heartbroken at the loss of their son.’
‘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,’ Crump said in a statement Saturday.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office and the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which regulates amusement rides in Florida at all but the major theme parks, declined comment Saturday other than to say the investigation is ongoing.
The seat where Tyre Sampson sat is seen covered up in black plastic
Investigators could be seen sitting in the ride as they attempted to establish what went wrong
One of the investigators could be seen sitting in the seat where Tyre Sampson had sat
Investigators looked extremely closely at the ride where the accident occurred
The seat was given a thorough examination by Florida Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services officials
The Icon Park attraction said in a statement it is fully cooperating with investigators and that the Orlando FreeFall ride will be closed indefinitely. It opened late last year on International Drive, a major tourist mecca.
‘We are heartbroken with the incident that took the life of one of our guests. We extend our condolences and deepest sympathy to his family and friends,’ said a statement from the SlingShot Group, which operates the ride.
‘We are absolutely saddened and devastated by what happened, and our hearts go out to this young man’s family,’ John Stine, sales director with the Slingshot Group, which owns the ride added.
Tyre was a giant for his age, already the size of an NFL offensive lineman. His family says he aspired to play pro football, like many kids with athletic ability who see a way to buy their mother a house and lift everyone in the family to a new level.
‘That was his dream, and he was on his way,’ Wendy Wooten, his stepmother, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. ‘He had so many scouts looking at him. He was going to be a great football player.’
Tyre is said fo have had an athletic ability and was deciding which school he would play football for
Visitors stand next to the memorial while a family member lights candles for Tyre Sampson, 14, who was killed when he fell from the Orlando Free Fall ride at ICON Park in Orlando
On Saturday the ride was completely closed as investigations took place into what happened
‘He had all the best qualities I never had,’ Sampson said to the Post. ‘He was intelligent. He was a good kid. He was a square. When he got focused on this football thing, his grades had to be up to play football, and that’s all he cared about. People was telling him, ‘You got a chance to make it, man,’ and he started to believe it.’
Tyre was part of a group called the St. Louis Bad Boyz football club who were in Orlando for a weeklong training camp, the Post-Dispatch reported. The group had chaperones and, by all accounts, were doing what millions do every year during spring break in Orlando: enjoying the theme parks and rides.
He was a student at the City Garden Montessori School in St. Louis.
He hadn’t yet decided whether to play football at Cardinal Ritter College Prep or East St. Louis High School.
The school sent a letter to parents Friday saying counseling would be available for students on Monday.
‘Tyre has been a City Garden student for many years, and was a beloved, and treasured member of our City Garden family. We will miss him tremendously and our hearts go out to his family and friends during this extremely difficult time,’ Christie Huck, the school’s CEO and principal Crystal Isom said in the letter.
No criminal charges have been filed but a negligence or wrongful death lawsuit, or both, seem likely. Crump said boy’s parents ‘intend to get answers for Tyre’s grieving family.’
‘A fun theme park visit with his football team should not have ended in tragedy,’ Crump said.
Balloons are released in Venice Park in St. Louis on March 26, 2022 in memory of Tyre Sampson, killed on a ICON Park amusement park ride
Video was posted by his Tyre’s sister, Tory So Wavy, on Facebook
Video of the balloon release was posted online by Tyre’s sister on Saturday afternoon