ORLANDO, Fla. – Universal Orlando removed a reference to “pre-existing conditions” in a report about a roller coaster rider’s death after a Florida government agency intervened, a News 6 investigation has uncovered.
Kevin Rodriguez Zavala, who was born with spinal atrophy and used a wheelchair, was found unconscious after riding the Stardust Racers roller coaster at Epic Universe on Sept. 17.
Although the medical examiner determined Zavala died accidentally from “multiple blunt impact injuries,” Universal Orlando executives and law enforcement investigators have not disclosed how the 32-year-old sustained those fatal injuries.
Likewise, no one with firsthand knowledge of the incident had publicly associated Rodriguez Zavala’s disability with his death until Universal Orlando noted “pre-existing conditions” in a report sent to a state agency this fall.
[BELOW: Guest dies after riding Stardust Racers at Universal Epic Universe]
The company later removed the words “pre-existing conditions” from the public report after discussing it with at least one state employee, News 6 has learned.
Details from that altered report were eventually published on the government website for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, or FDACS, along with similar incident reports from other large theme park operators.
“We inquired with Universal about the inclusion of ‘pre-existing conditions’ and they determined to submit an updated report,” a spokesperson for Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson told News 6 in response to questions about the altered document.
Under Florida law, amusement rides at large theme parks like Universal Orlando and Walt Disney World that employ more than 1,000 people and have full-time, in-house safety inspectors are exempt from state oversight.
Instead, under a separate “memorandum of understanding,” those large theme park operators are required to self-report to FDACS all ride-related fatalities and injuries that result in more than 24 hours of hospitalization.
[BELOW: Stardust Racers reopening with new safety rules after guest’s death]
A paralegal in Universal Orlando’s risk management department sent FDACS the company’s most recent quarterly report in October via email, documents obtained by News 6 through a public record request show.
“Please find attached the reportable ride incidents for Universal Orlando from Q3 2025,” the email stated.
The attached spreadsheet listed six reported injuries linked to the company’s theme park attractions, including a 56-year-old man who was admitted to the hospital with a headache after riding the Incredible Hulk roller coaster and a 78-year-old woman who rode the Hogwarts Express train and was later hospitalized with dizziness.
The spreadsheet also noted a death linked to the Stardust Racers roller coaster Sept. 17 involving a 32-year-old male.
“Fatality (pre-existing conditions)” the report stated in the incident description.
That brief disclosure in the report is noteworthy because it is the first known instance of Universal Orlando publicly associating Rodriguez Zavala’s death with his pre-existing medical conditions.
Universal Orlando submitted the report to FDACS Oct. 14, nearly one month after Zavala’s death and ten days after the company reopened the Stardust Racers roller coaster.
But about 27 hours later, records obtained by News 6 reveal Universal Orlando sent a second, altered document to the state agency.
“This is the report we intend to submit for Universal Orlando for Q3 2025,” a litigation manager in the company’s risk management department wrote in an Oct. 15 email.
The spreadsheet attached to the email was nearly identical to the one the company sent FDACS the previous day, but the reference to Rodriguez Zavala’s “pre-existing conditions” had been removed from the document.
[BELOW: Attorney questions Universal’s safety measures after complaints of Stardust Racers coaster]
Universal Orlando representatives did not respond to questions from News 6 asking why the company altered its original report sent to the state.
An FDACS spokesperson told News 6 the agency did not have concerns about Universal’s original fatality report.
“The company either needed to list the pre-existing condition or remove the cause,” said FDACS communications director Aaron Keller. “Universal has been extremely transparent with the department.”
Keller did not immediately provide details about that apparent mandate to list pre-existing conditions. The two-page “memorandum of understanding” between FDACS and large theme park operators does not specifically require the companies to document known medical conditions in their written reports to the agency.
Universal Orlando’s most recent injury report to FDACS included two other entries that were associated with a “pre-existing condition”, including a 66-year-old man who was admitted to the hospital with chest pain after riding The Incredible Hulk roller coaster.
Those two entries remained in Universal Orlando’s final version of the injury report.
The FDACS spokesperson did not immediately disclose whether Universal Orlando provided the agency with specific details about the pre-existing conditions noted in those additional entries. Emails sent by Universal Orlando to FDACS do not mention any specific medical conditions for the two injured theme park visitors.
Lawyers representing Rodriguez Zavala’s family have denied that the 32-year-old’s disability contributed to his death.
Benjamin Crump, the family’s attorney, has also rejected suggestions that Rodriguez Zavala may have ignored posted signs warning the roller coaster was not allowed for guests with certain medical issues.
“Did Mr. Rodriguez Zavala have ‘back, neck, or similar physical conditions?’” a News 6 reporter asked Crump at an Oct. 7 news conference, citing language from the roller coaster’s warning signs.
Attorney Benjamin Crump posted social media video of his press conference about the Universal Orlando Stardust Racers roller coaster death. But it cuts off right before @AttorneyCrump answered this question. Here is the full exchange. https://t.co/Xs1xr6C6tG @news6wkmg pic.twitter.com/Uq80wvhn9b
— Mike DeForest (@DeForestNews6) October 7, 2025
“What do you mean? He was fine. He was disabled,” replied Crump.
“That was so vague that it was not a clear warning,” said Natalie Jackson, another attorney who represents Rodriguez Zavala’s family. “He did not have any ongoing pain, or anything like that. He had a lifelong spinal disease and disorder. That is lifelong that he lived with. So there was nothing about being able to walk. There was nothing about being in a wheelchair.”
Crump and Jackson did not respond to emails from News 6 offering an opportunity to comment on this story.
FDACS dispatched three state amusement ride inspectors to Epic Universe after Rodriguez Zavala’s death.
Those inspectors, who FDACS said were invited by Universal Orlando to observe testing and inspections of Stardust Racers, did not write any reports or take any photos documenting their observations, News 6 previously reported.
The state agency later issued a public statement indicating it concurred with Universal Orlando’s internal assessment that the Stardust Racers roller coaster “functioned as intended.”
The medical examiner and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office have declined to release records related to Rodriguez Zavala’s death, including his autopsy report, citing an exemption to Florida’s public record law that allows law enforcement agencies to withhold “active criminal investigative information”.
According to that Florida law, “criminal investigative information shall be considered ‘active’ as long as it is related to an ongoing investigation which is continuing with a reasonable, good faith anticipation of securing an arrest or prosecution in the foreseeable future.”