ORLANDO, Fla. — When Shay Johnson last spoke with her cousin Tyre Sampson, the 14-year-old killed after falling from a drop tower at ICON Park last Thursday, he was about to board the ride after he was turned away from other nearby attractions because of his size, Johnson said.
Tyre weighed about 340 pounds and stood 6-foot-4, she said, and he was told he could not ride the Orlando StarFlyer or the Orlando SlingShot before getting on the Orlando Free Fall. She said she believes the ride operators just looked at Tyre to assess his size before letting him ride.
“I hate it,” she said in an interview. “I hate that they did not turn him down. ... I feel like they just looked (him) over just to get his money.”
Representatives for the SlingShot Group have made few public remarks since the accident and did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
Tyre exceeded the the maximum passenger weight for the attraction by about 53 pounds, according to an operations manual published by the ride’s manufacturer. It lists the limit as 130 kg, or about 287 pounds. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services released the manual Monday along with other records on the attraction and accident.
“Be careful when seeing if large guests fit into the seats,” it reads. “Check that they fit within the contours of the seat and the bracket fits properly. If this is not so — Do not let this person ride.”
Five days after the fatal accident, passersby continued to stop by a makeshift memorial to Tyre to pay their respects. The nearby Orlando SlingShot was not operating early Tuesday afternoon, but the StarFlyer continued to attract passengers.
The Orlando Free Fall, the drop tower from which Tyre fell Thursday night while on vacation from St. Louis, remains closed indefinitely as authorities investigate. It was ringed with a fence about 6 feet high on Tuesday.
Johnson, 32, who lives in Orlando, said Tyre’s family wants the Orlando Free Fall to be taken down. She agrees with ICON Park’s request for the SlingShot Group to stop operating its other ride in the complex, the Orlando SlingShot, until it can be re-inspected by authorities. The group also operates the Orlando StarFlyer, which is located next to ICON Park but is not part of the property.
“I just don’t want nobody else to get hurt,” she said.
The Orlando Free Fall and the Orlando SlingShot, which opened in late December, passed their initial inspections with no issues found on Dec. 20 and were declared ready for operation by a state inspector, records show.
Another inspector had performed visual nondestructive testing, a process evaluating the rides’ components without taking them apart, five days earlier and found they met state requirements.
An accident report completed by an attraction operator immediately after the incident shows that Tyre came out of his seat as the ride’s magnets engaged while the vehicle descended, records released by the state show. His harness was found to be down and locked when the ride stopped.
The person who filed the accident report did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon. Representatives for the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services have declined to provide details on the investigation while it is still pending.
ICON Park’s leadership has also declined to remark on the incident and investigation, beyond statements publicly released by the company.
“We continue to grieve the passing of Tyre Sampson and our thoughts are with his family and friends,” a statement issued Monday afternoon read. “This was the saddest day in the history of ICON Park and we’re working hard to make sure this never happens again.”
A petition calling for ICON Park staff members to face charges in Tyre’s death has attracted over 4,500 signatures in four days, though it is incorrectly addressed to Todd Spitzer, the district attorney of Orange County, California, instead of Florida.
Johnson plans to hold a walk around the memorial to Tyre at Icon Park at 6 p.m. Tuesday, part of the family’s efforts to get the Orlando Free Fall taken down, she said.
“We want justice,” she said.
Tyre’s family appreciates the outpouring of public support following the accident, from people leaving objects at the memorial to attending vigils in his memory, she said.
“It’s giving (us) a little smile,” she said. “It makes it better.”
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