ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An Austrian company will have to pay $310 million to the mother and father of a St. Louis County teenager who died on an Orlando thrill ride, according to a Thursday jury verdict that closed out a trial over a wrongful death lawsuit.
Funtime Handels, the company behind the FreeFall drop tower ride from which 14-year-old Tyre Sampson fell to his death, was ordered to pay Sampson's parents $155 million each, according to a spokesperson for Michael Haggard, one of the family's attorneys.
Funtime is the only defendant named in the lawsuit that did not choose to settle last year. The company never showed up to court proceedings, and the entire trial proceeded without them.
Sampson died during a spring break visit to ICON Park on March 24, 2022. He was riding the 400-foot-tall Orlando FreeFall when he slipped from his seat halfway down the ride and fell to the ground below.
The free-fall ride had been open to the public for just over a year when Sampson was killed. According to an operating manual for the ride, the weight limit was about 287 pounds. Sampson's father, Yarnell Sampson, said his son weighed about 325 pounds.
The Florida Department of Agriculture hired outside engineers who said ride attendants adjusted the sensors on the ride manually to double the size of the opening for restraints on two seats, which resulted in Tyre not being secured in his seat correctly, according to an initial report by the engineers. There were several other “potential contributions” to the incident.
At the end of Thursday's arguments, Sampson's parents left the room so that a video showing Sampson's death could be played for the jury.
The jury began deliberation shortly after and returned with their verdict about an hour later.