ORLANDO, Fla. – The family of a man who died after riding a roller coaster at Universal’s Epic Universe believes warning signs were missed on the ride.
Attorney Ben Crump, who represents the family of Kevin Rodriguez Zavala, held a news conference Tuesday morning to share that his legal team has heard from additional witnesses and other riders who reported suffering injuries on the Stardust Racers roller coaster.
[VIDEO BELOW: Family seeks transparency from Universal]
Crump said the family believes the accounts show the death was preventable.
“We believe that these were warning signs that there was something wrong with the design of this ride and that they tried to blame the victims,” he said. “They didn’t want to say, ‘Well, maybe we have to go back and critically assess this ride and the design of this ride.’”
Zavala was found unresponsive after riding the roller coaster earlier this month and later died. His death was ruled an accident, according to a medical examiner, who declared the cause of death was from “multiple blunt impact injuries.”
People who’ve contacted the family and Ben Crump’s law office since Zavala died Sept. 17 while riding the roller coaster include a woman who says she lost consciousness and suffered neck and spine injuries soon after the ride opened in May, Crump said during a news conference in Orlando.
The woman reached out to Zavala’s family on a GoFundMe page and told them about the experience she had on the roller coaster.
“All we want is answers regarding my son’s death,” Zavala’s mother, Ana Zavala, said through an interpreter at Tuesday’s news conference. “We want these answers so we can be able to honor him. We want these answers so we can have some peace. It is extremely difficult losing a son and we do not wish this pain on anyone.”
Last week, Crump and his team said they want all videos and reports related to Zavala’s deaths released to the family. The team is conducting its own independent investigation.
[VIDEO BELOW: Investigation continues into death at Epic Universe]
Since last week’s news conference, a woman filed a lawsuit suing Universal Orlando Resort. She said she was invited to Universal’s Epic Universe theme park just a few weeks before it officially opened to the public in May and on the ride, her head shook violently and slammed into her seat’s headrest, giving her permanent injuries, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit has since been settled.
Crump questioned what Universal did after receiving reports from the woman and others who said they were injured on the ride.
“She told them that you all need to do something about this because someone is going to be seriously injured, or worse, they’re going to be killed,” Crump said. “She gave them notice, and she believed that the employees already know that there were problems with this roller coaster. And it begs the question, what did Universal do about it?”
An incident report obtained by News 6 revealed that Zavala had a “preexisting spinal injury,” though it’s unclear whether that contributed to the accident. Despite that, Universal Orlando’s safety guide shows that Stardust Racers is “not for guests with back, neck or similar physical conditions.”
However, Crump pointed out that Zavala was never told he couldn’t ride the coaster, which Crump said he was riding for the first time that day.
Crump’s team said their investigation so far showed Zavala had been unconscious for much of the ride and suffered several head injuries. They also said witnesses noticed that there was blood and part of a seat covering was detached and hanging off the seat.
Universal Orlando Resort President and COO Karen Irwin said in an internal letter sent to team members that internal findings confirmed the ride “functioned as intended” and that the equipment was intact when the ride started, throughout the ride, and when it returned to the station.
[VIDEO BELOW: Epic guest died from ‘blunt impact injuries’]
The Florida Department of Agriculture also said in a statement, “The department’s current findings align with those shared by Universal after monitoring the same tests and reviewing the same information. The investigation is ongoing, and additional information will be released as it becomes available.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.