Orlando FreeFall death: Tyre Sampson’s family takes legal action as lawmakers file bill in his name

Lawmakers in Florida will honor the teenager who died after he fell from the Orlando FreeFall ride in the next legislative session with a new bill in his name.

On Wednesday afternoon, family and friends gathered on what would have been the teen’s 15th birthday as State Rep. Geraldine Thompson announced she would be introducing the “Tyre Sampson Law” to improve rider safety on amusement rides, Fox 35 of Orlando reported.

The bill was named after the teen who died on a ride at ICON Park in Orlando in March 2022, while he was visiting from St. Louis, Missouri, for spring break. His family wants the ride taken down.

“I’m trying to give the proper respect to the dead. He deserved that because he didn’t sign up to die. He signed up to ride a ride and have fun and it led up to something else,” said Yarnell Sampson, the deceased teen’s father, Fox Orlando reported. “That was my only child. That was my everything.”

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Sampson’s father also said he was “totally invested in this situation” and in getting the ride shut down.

The lawmaker said her proposal would prevent rides from being modified in the way they were for the ride from which the boy fell.

“The things that happened here were out of the ordinary,” Thompson said. “Seats being adjusted after inspection after a permit – that was out of the ordinary. It was out of the ordinary that the young people who were operating the ride had not been properly trained, that was out of the ordinary. It was out of the ordinary that the signs with regard to height and weight requirements were not posted so that Tyre could make his own decision – that was out of the ordinary.”

An investigation into the boy’s death determined the operator of the ride made “manual adjustments” to a pair of seats, including the one the teen sat in at the time of his death. Sampson, who weighed 380 lbs., was also almost 100 lbs. over the weight limit for the ride, Fox Orlando reported.

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An autopsy later determined Sampson died of blunt force trauma. His death was ruled an “accident.”

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried shared a proposed framework for the bill, which includes not allowing safety sensors to be adjusted beyond maximum manufacturer settings as well as increasing safety signage posting requirements.

Tyre Sampson’s father Yarnell Sampson and mother Nekia Dodd have filed a 65-page lawsuit against multiple businesses involved with the ride’s design, development, construction and operation. They have called for accountability and for the ride to be permanently shut down.

Should the bill pass the legislative body and be signed into law, it would go into effect on July 1, 2023.

The legal representation for The Slingshot Group, the company that owns the ride Sampson fell from, has expressed support for the proposed bill.