ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The parents of a 14-year-old Missouri boy who fell to his death from an Orlando amusement park ride in 2022 have won a $310 million verdict against the attraction's Austrian builder.
Late Thursday, the Orange County jury ordered that the manufacturer Funtime pay $155 million each to Tyre Sampson's parents, Nekia Dodd and Yarnell Sampson. He died on March 24, 2022, after falling 70 feet (21 meters) from the Orlando Free Fall ride at Icon Park. The trial lasted only a day as Funtime never appeared in court to defend itself.
Icon Park, which rented the ride's space to Orlando Slingshot, the ride's owner and operator, had already settled with Sampson's family for an undisclosed amount.
“The jury’s decision confirms what we have long argued: Tyre’s death was the result of blatant negligence and a failure to prioritize safety over profits,” the family's lawyers, Ben Crump and Natalie Jackson, said in a statement. “The ride’s manufacturers neglected their duty to protect passengers, and (Thursday's) outcome ensures they face the consequences."
The family will now have to seek an order from an Austrian court to collect the damages.
Funtime did not respond to an email sent to its headquarters Friday seeking comment. The company's website shows that it manufactures thrill rides that throw, drop and spin passengers at high speeds and from tall elevations, including attractions named Vomatron, Sling Shot and Chaos Pendle.
Sampson, a football standout who stood 6 foot, 2 inches tall (1.9 meters) and weighed 380 pounds (172 kilograms), was visiting Orlando on spring break from the St. Louis area when he went with friends to the downtown amusement park.
They rode the Orlando Free Fall, which placed 30 riders in seats attached to a tower, secured them with a shoulder harness and then dropped them 430 feet (131 meters). It didn't have seat belts, something most drop rides have as an additional safety measure.
Because of Sampson's size, the harness didn't lock properly and he was ejected from his seat when the ride braked 70 feet from the ground.
His parents argued that Orlando Slingshot and Funtime should have warned their son about the risks of someone his size going on the ride and didn’t provide an appropriate restraint system. Adding seat belts would have cost $660.
The state ordered the ride closed after the accident and it never reopened. It is now being demolished.
This version corrects that the ride is owned by Slingshot Group, not Icon Park.
Nekia Dodd, mother of Tyre Sampson, wipes away tears while talking to the media at the site of the former Orlando Freefall ride at ICON Park, Wednesday, March 15, 2023, in Orlando, Fla. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP, File)
FILE - The Orlando Free Fall drop tower in ICON Park in Orlando is pictured on Monday, March 28, 2022. T (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel via AP, File)
Sales rose this year during the holiday shopping season even as Americans wrestled with elevated prices for many groceries and other necessities, according to new data.
Holiday sales from the beginning of November through Christmas Eve climbed 3.8%, outpacing the 3.1% increase from a year earlier, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks all kinds of payments including cash and debit cards. The last five days of the season accounted for 10% of the spending.
This year, retailers were even more under the gun to get shoppers in to buy early and in bulk since there were five fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Michelle Meyer, chief economist at Mastercard Economics Institute, said the holiday shopping season “revealed a consumer who is willing and able to spend but driven by a search for value” as seen by concentrated online spending during the biggest promotional periods.
Sales growth was higher than the 3.2% increase Mastercard SpendingPulse had projected this fall. The data released Thursday excludes the automotive industry and is not adjusted for inflation.
Clothing sales rose 3.6%, with most of the growth being fueled by online shopping. Spending on restaurants, and sales of electronics and jewelry also grew. Online sales jumped 6.7% from a year ago and in-person spending rose 2.9%.
Consumer spending accounts for nearly 70% of U.S. economic activity and economists carefully monitor how Americans use their money, particularly during the holidays, to gauge how they’re feeling financially.
The most recent government data on consumer spending, released on Dec. 17, showed shoppers stepped up activity at retail stores last month. But auto dealer sales drove most of those gains as huge storms created a need for new cars in parts of the southeast slammed by Hurricane Helene in October. Big discounts at many retail chains also attracted shoppers.
But the report also hinted at some consumer caution as sales at grocery stores, clothing shops, and restaurants fell. Outside of car dealers and online retailers, sales gains were modest.
Retailers felt more pressure this year due to the shorter holiday shopping period, and also from a presidential election that captured the attention of many consumers. Sales of general merchandise slid 9% in the two weeks ended Nov. 9, according to Circana, a market research group. Sales have been rebounding but stores will have to make up for those losses.
A broader picture of how Americans are spending their money arrives next month when the National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail trade group, releases its combined two-month statistics based on November-December sales figures from the Commerce Department.
The group expects that shoppers will have made $979.5 billion to $989 billion worth of purchases in November and December, which would represent a 2.5%-3.5% increase over the same two-month period a year ago. That would be a slower rate than the 3.9% increase from holiday 2023 over holiday 2022 season.
Overall, retailers had a decent start to the unofficial kickoff to the holiday shopping period despite lots of discounts that started as early as October.
FILE - A shopper looks at handbags at Macy's department store on Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Anne D'Innocenzio, File)
