The family of a Missouri teen who fell over 200 feet to his death while riding a Florida amusement park thrill attraction was awarded $310 million for the 2022 freak accident, as the heartbroken parents blasted the ride maker for not showing up at the trial.
Tyre Sampson’s grieving parents sat inside an Orlando courthouse Thursday as Austrian-based amusement ride manufacturer Funtime Handels was ordered to pay for the teen’s wrongful death.
The family emotionally celebrated as the verdict marked the end of the nearly three-year court ordeal.
“Today we got our day in court — this $310 million verdict sends a message, a great message for accountability,” family attorney Ben Crump said, according to Fox 35 Orlando.
Funtime was ordered to pay two separate $155 million totals to Sampson’s mother, Mekia Dodd, and father, Yarnell Sampson.
Sampson, 14, had traveled to the Sunshine State with some friends for spring break when the group visited ICON Park on March 24, 2022.
The high school football standout who was well over 300 pounds was allowed to ride the Orlando FreeFall despite being 98 pounds over the ride’s 287-pound limit and park staff needing to adjust his seat manually for him to fit.
The attraction is a 430-foot-tall drop tower that hoisted riders up to the top before leaning them forward slightly and dramatically dropping them down.
In the middle of the free fall, which reached speeds of 75 mph, Sampson slipped out of the restraints and fell to his death.
The older Sampson and Dodd filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Funtime, owner-operator Slingshot Group and ICON Park in April 2022, a month after the caught-on-video death.
The family settled with the park and operator in March 2023 for an undisclosed amount.
An autopsy report confirmed Sampson suffered internal injuries along with trauma to his head, neck and torso.
Funtime, an Austrian-based company, did not have any representatives in the courtroom Thursday for the verdict, frustrating Sampson’s parents.
“I wanted them to face me, to apologize,” Dodd said after the hearing, according to Fox Orlando. “I got none of that — no apologies, no anything.”
The overseas-based company could face additional fees and risk losing its operational license in the US if it fails to pay the court-ordered $310 million.
“They may try to fight it and say that our justice system can’t impose a judgment over there,” said Michael Haggard, another attorney for the Sampson family, according to the outlet. “But they do business here. There’s where the Department of Commerce … the State Department can get involved, saying, ‘If you don’t recognize a judgment in the United States, well, then you don’t do business here.’”
The deadly attraction was demolished on March 15, 2023, with Dodd witnessing the destruction.
“Unfortunately, when he passed, I wasn’t there for him. So, I had to do this,” the heartbroken mother told reporters at the time. “I didn’t want to come under these circumstances, but … I had to. I gotta say, my emotions are all over.”
