Mother of boy killed on carnival ride in Butte sues ride owner, inspector and city-county

The incident happened the afternoon of June 7. The victim died as a result of his injuries on June 21.

The suit was filed on Aug. 7 in Butte-Silver Bow County District Court by Ashley Hossack, the boy’s mother and representative of the estate. It names Butte-Silver Bow, Midway West Amusements, Shady Acres Safety Services, LLC, and inspector Dennis N. Sutherland as defendants. Midway West is the owner of the Yo-Yo and Shady Acres and Sutherland were the inspectors, according to the suit. NBC Montana first reported news of the lawsuit this week.

The lawsuit puts responsibility for the boy’s death on all defendants, including Butte-Silver Bow because it granted the permit to Midway West for the carnival to use a parking lot at the Butte-Silver Bow Civic Center for its June 5-7 carnival and was set to retain 15% of the revenue generated from merchandise sales.

Butte-Silver Bow Chief Executive J.P. Gallagher said the city-county cannot comment on pending litigation.

The lawsuit says the Yo-Yo ride was manufactured in 1997 and that Sutherland and Shady Acres, doing business as S.A. Safety Services, had performed or purported to perform inspections to certify the ride in New Mexico on May 10 and in Utah on May 12, within a month of the incident in Butte.

But, the suit claims that the documents raise questions as to whether Sutherland was a certified inspector at the time because they contain discrepancies about whether his certification was expired.

The lawsuit says that there were 10 chairs on the ride that did not have restraint components on them, which it says “was not an obscure or hidden defect” during the inspections or by the time the ride got to Butte.

The suit claims after the incident, an owner of Midway West acknowledged to Butte-Silver Bow law enforcement that replacement restraint components were “on order,” and that the company knew which chairs were missing restraints.

The lawsuit says the boy’s mother and Butte attorney Michael J. McKeon, Jr., who is representing her and the estate, believe the boy was put into one of the chairs that lacked a restraint system, or that the one in place failed to secure him.

It says the boy was thrown, ejected or fell from the moving ride “from substantial height” and suffered “catastrophic and fatal” injuries as a result.

“[The victim]'s death was not an inherent or unavoidable consequence of riding a properly assembled, inspected, maintained, staffed, loaded, and operated Yo-Yo,” the lawsuit says.

The company and inspector could not immediately be reached for comment.

The suit claims negligence against each defendant, liability for dangerous activity against Midway West or against Butte-Silver Bow, aims to recover expenses for emergency services for the boy, his funeral and his lost earning capacity, and claims the defendants caused the boy’s wrongful death, among other damages.