The death of 32-year-old Kevin Rodriquez-Zavala was ruled accidental, and the investigation has been closed, according to an incident report from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
Zavala was riding a high-speed roller coaster at Universal Orlando’s Epic Universe theme park when he was found unresponsive. The sheriff’s office said security footage showed that Zavala was “engaged and well” at the start of the ride, but was unresponsive when the coaster arrived back at the loading/unloading dock.
Stardust Racers, part of Universal Orlando’s newest theme park, Epic Universe, is a dual-launch coaster that goes up to 62 mph. Universal Orlando says the roller coaster reaches heights of up to 133 feet.
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An employee who spoke with the sheriff’s office said Zavala had “severe facial trauma.” Additionally, a witness quoted in the incident report told the sheriff’s office that Zavala was “slumped over with blood coming from his head. His left leg was at a 90-degree angle in between the lap bar.”
Anna Marshall, a medical doctor, was waiting to board Stardust Racers when she heard someone screaming “Get me out!” She assumed it was someone having trouble breathing as a result of the ride, according to the report.
The incident report states that Marshall informed staff that she was a medical doctor and could assist in the situation. Marshall told authorities that she saw Zavala “completely slouched over with blood surrounding him.” She told investigators that at the time she noted that Zavala’s thigh bone was completely broken in half and resting on the back of the ride chair.
Javiliz Cruz-Robles, Zavala’s girlfriend, was also on the ride and told investigators that employees pushed down on Zavala’s lap bar several times before the ride began. However, she thought it was still too low.
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Cruz-Robles spoke with Marshall as the doctor attempted to administer aid to Zavala. Marshall recalled Cruz-Robles repeating “his mom’s going to kill me,” referring to a conversation about Zavala going on rides.
Zavala was wheelchair-bound and had several medical challenges, according to his parents, Carlos Rodriguez Ortiz and Anne Zavala. Because of these issues, they were concerned about their son going on certain rides.
Kevin was born with spinal cord atrophy and had gone through surgeries throughout his life. They also said that Kevin had previously fractured his femur in 2020, which also required surgery. Kevin also suffered from a hip dislocation that required surgery in 2010. Carlos told investigators that Kevin’s mother always told him not to ride roller coasters but that he never listened.
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The family had claimed that Zavala’s death was not an isolated incident, but rather part of a patten.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represented Zavala’s family, said in an October news conference that the safety systems on Stardust Racers were “inadequate” and noted the ride history presents an “alarming timeline.”
Universal’s records, which were obtained by WOFL, showed that the theme park had records of two injuries since its opening. The first occurred on June 22, when a 63-year-old man reported dizziness and an altered state of consciousness, which the theme park attributed to a preexisting condition. The second incident took place two days later when a 47-year-old woman reported a visual disturbance and numbness. The theme park attributed this to a preexisting condition as well.
In September, the District Nine Medical Examiner’s Office determined his cause of death to be “multiple blunt impact injuries and the manner of death to be an accident” following Zavala’s autopsy, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office noted in its incident report.
The sheriff’s office determined that Epic Universe employees “followed their Standards Operating Procedures and did not act in a careless or neglectful manner.”
“Based upon the totality of the circumstances, with consideration of known, available evidence, to include sworn statements, video surveillance, the District Nine Medical Examiner’s Office findings, the standard operating procedures provided by Epic Universe, this case was deemed an accidental death and was closed accordingly,” the sheriff’s office wrote in the report.
Fox Business reached out to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and Universal Orlando for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.
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