Family of teen who fell from ride at Orlando's ICON Park want it closed for good
ORLANDO, Fla. - As a memorial grows for the teen who fell to his death from a ride at Orlando's ICON Park, so do the calls from his family for accountability.
This comes as investigators try to determine what caused this tragedy.
The Orlando FreeFall ride remains shut down even as dozens of people visited the memorial where a 14-year-old boy was tragically killed Thursday night. There are flowers, teddy bears and footballs.
RELATED: Family of Tyre Sampson launches petition to shut down ride that killed him
Tyre Sampson was an 8th grader who had dreams of becoming a football star. He was in Orlando visiting from Missouri for his Spring Break.
Tyre Sampson
Tyre’s cousin has started a petition to have the ride taken down for good.
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"My cousin lost his life over this ride. I don’t feel like it was safe. I feel like it needs to be shut down before someone else’s family has to go through what we are going through."
'Did you check him?': Employees appear to question after boy falls from Orlando drop tower
Moments after a teenager tragically fell from the drop tower attraction at ICON Park in Orlando – and the ride was brought to its ending position – a worker appeared to ask other coworkers whether the teen was properly secured into the ride seat. Video shared with FOX 35 Orlando.
RELATED: Teen falls from Florida ride: Video shows moments leading up to deadly plunge
The petition got pages of signatures Sunday from those visiting the memorial. There will be a community balloon release for Tyre Monday night in front of the ride at 6 p.m.
In addition to the state investigation, the attorneys have their own experts that will be looking at the ride and the factors surrounding the fatal fall. They say Tyre was turned away from several other rides at ICON Park that night because of his large size.
"He absolutely would have accepted if they said to him, 'respectfully, I'm sorry, but you can’t ride it.' He would be home right now getting ready for football practice. That’s their responsibility," the family's attorney Bob Hilliard said.
Right now the ride is shut down indefinitely while a state investigation is underway to find out exactly what went wrong. Tyre’s parents have hired attorneys.
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