Bodycam: Florida Man Killed on Roller Coaster

The call came out that he needs a band, and then that's the way to drag him. away. Chaos at a Florida amusement park. when a visitor is severely injured on a. ride. >> We are completely closing off the area, so if you can help us make sure that. there are no guests or team members left. on Stardust. We are getting our first. look at body camera footage of first. responders swarming the platform of. [music] the Stardust Racers ride at Epic. Universe in Orlando trying to save a. young man's life. >> They keep saying over and over again, but there were no malfunctions.

That doesn't mean. that there were no safety issues. We are. digging into the emergency response and. the [music] investigation that was done. in the aftermath of this young man's. death, as well as why the man's [music]. parents ended up blasting the park at a. news conference. Everyone deserves to. enjoy these parks and come home safely. That's all we're asking for. Welcome to. Sidebar presented [music] by Law&Crime. >> [screaming]. >> I'm Jesse Weber.

A Florida [music] woman went through a. horrific nightmare last year. Hovelys. was riding a roller coaster at Universal. Studios Epic Universe next to her. long-time boyfriend, Kevin Rodriguez. Zavala, when she looked over and. realized something was terribly wrong. As the roller coaster plummeted downward. and whipped around corners, Kevin was. apparently repeatedly hitting his head. Blood was flying everywhere. Hovelys was.

screaming. When the Stardust Racer. finally came to a stop, the. 32-year-old's body was limp and it was. contorted. Epic Universe employees, medics, Orange County EMTs, they rushed. to help him pulling him from the ride, putting him on the ground to do CPR, but. it was too late. Kevin died on September. 17th, 2025. And since then, law. enforcement and the park itself have. done investigations. And there was a. potential lawsuit on behalf of the. family that was being considered. Epic. Universe changed some of the guidelines.

guidance for their coasters. So, we are. going to dive into each aspect of this. awful incident to show how investigators. responded, how this conclusion was. reached. And we'll talk about what that. conclusion was, but the footage is just. something else. Now, I do have to give. you some important context as we talk. about this for you to understand. So, Kevin was born with spinal cord atrophy. He was using a wheelchair. Now, according to his family, he didn't let. that disability get in the way. He led. an active, independent lifestyle. He'd.

gone to college. He was a video game. designer. Hovelys told investigators. that she had gotten a job at Epic. Universe, took Kevin to the park as a. birthday gift using two new higher. tickets that she'd been given, so it was. all well and good. She told police that. typically Kevin's whole family would go. with him on trips to amusement parks, but this time it was just the two of. them. Now, Epic Universe had just opened. a few months before in May of 2025. Stardust Racers track stands more than. 130 ft tall, reaches a top speed of 62. mph. And you go to September 17th. As.

Orange County deputies arrived at the. scene, multiple paramedics were trying. to revive Kevin. You want happy now? All right, I'm on the I'm on the on the. second round. I'm on the second round. We'll get some get some TSA started. Yeah. Well, I'll be Swiss. I'm not worried. about Lucas right now. We're going to. bring him to the hospital. I got TSA location. That's how the only suspicion that he. got. I'll get some fluids ready as well.

Not secure right and he was strapped on. the ride. I'll just call it going in. He's still going in the face. Okay. All right. Hey, uh. I got you. The park is not all right. Park 10-2 engine 10-2. Give us a call 10-28. They're asking if I think I can cancel. the order. Uh we're going to cancel We. are going to cancel the order. You can cancel order when this goes out. Yeah, I am I am good. Yeah. You can.

cancel the order. What if we need law though? No witness called. Over there. Hey, minute 45. I'll take 40 seconds. Minute 45. Hey, we need this aisle. secured, bro. Hey. Jamie, secure the. aisle. Hector, grab the three chargers. Get the BBM real quick. I need to see. Secure the aisle. Hey, it's 12 seconds we can take. All right, sir. All right, 12 seconds we. can take.

System. Switch. Hey, where's that Where's that securing. device for the aisle? Which one of you. medics was here first? Uh. myself. So, the blood from like a head injury? So, it looks like he. he hit it on something. Okay.

You guys get an ID off him or anything? Was somebody sitting next to him? Yeah, they did. A woman sat next to him. I'm unsure what they did. She probably removed her maybe to the. family room. Hey, where's the Where's the lady that. was sitting next to him? Oh, yeah. I think they're down Okay.

What? We know somebody related to him? Yeah, there was a woman sitting right next to. him apparently. That thing is covered in. blood. Yeah. Okay, where. Where is that? Where is she? I'm trying. to figure that one out right now. I've. been asking for a family member for like. the last 5 minutes. So, as Kevin was. wheeled away on a stretcher headed for. the hospital, that's when deputies. started their investigation getting a. closer look at the roller coaster seat, which I have to tell you was covered in. blood. Where were you guys when the call. came in? I was in my car.

They they said, "Oh, yeah, head injury. head head injury at Stardust." I was. like, "Ah, somebody slipped and fell.". Yeah. They didn't say it was uh. You know, for us it would have been like. an industrial accident or something. I guess he wasn't strapped in all the. way. Trying to figure out if this is like. brain matter. or vomit. Yeah.

You want to take some photos? What what. do you guys get pictures? She's going to take some photos. They. they want to take photos. for their thing. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Cool. My cell is okay. Oh, yeah. I was going to say, you just. do me a favor and just have them do it. from this side of the fence. Or that they do it on this side just so. we got enough of our investigation side. For our. I'll be calling them in a little bit to. see how they want to see how they want. to do it.

Is that all right? I don't know what's. going to be going on. So, for now I'd rather just hold it. You're good with that? Till we see. Yeah. I just I don't want anybody. messing with it. I don't know. Photos. photos are pretty much the same here. And going back to Hovelys, she was. sitting a little ways away from the. ride's exit just trying to take in. everything that was going on. I need a. statement on what happened. If you could recall if you were able to.

We went on the ride. Uh-huh. I saw him was too low. He doesn't have. any support on his legs. Okay. They. pushed it like three times, maybe four. Who pushed it though? The ride workers? Okay. I tried I saw him on the first drop. Uh-huh. He hit his head. I tried to hold him. I. couldn't hold him. Okay. >> Another one he hit his head. So, he hit So, he just.

went up and hit. So, the the the seat. was loose the whole time? It looked like it was tight, Okay. but. it wasn't. Like I said, he doesn't have. support on his legs. I got you. He can't. just go. to force so he can just stay in place. Okay. That's all I can remember cuz I lost my. glasses halfway on the ride. I don't I. got you. All I know he kept hitting his. head. I tried to hold him so he doesn't. hit his head anymore. Okay. But it was. All right, just take a couple breaths,

all right? Deep breaths, all right? I. know it's a a hectic situation, okay? Now, Hovelys was also taken to the. hospital to be checked out, but her. boyfriend of approximately 10 years was. pronounced dead. The day after Kevin's. death, Universal Orlando released this. statement. "Universal is cooperating. with the Orange County Sheriff's Office. following a tragic event involving a. guest at Epic Universe on Wednesday. night. The guest became unresponsive. after riding Stardust Racers and was. transported to the hospital where the. guest later died. We are devastated by. this event our sincerest sympathies to.

the guest's loved ones. We are fully. committed to cooperating with this. ongoing investigation." Now, we got our. hands on an incident report that was. filed by the Orange County Sheriff's. Office, which kind of gives us an idea. of how deputies conducted their. investigation, okay? So, they noted that. there were several warning signs at the. entrance to the ride and throughout the. line that said, and this is important. for a legal context, how amusement parks. try to shield themselves from liability, because if they have inadequate warning. signs, they can be held liable. But in. part it says, "These high-speed roller.

coasters include sudden and dramatic. acceleration, climbing, tilting, and. inversion and dropping. Failure to. follow posted guidelines may result in. serious injury or expulsion from the. park. Guests using standard wheelchairs, motorized wheelchairs, or electric. convenience vehicles must transfer to. the ride vehicle seating." And that's. exactly what Kevin did. He moved from. his wheelchair to the ride. In fact, here's what an employee who helped him. told investigators. This is according to. the incident report. I asked if he would.

be okay with transferring and he said, "Yes." So, one of my team members. escorted him while I helped another. guest. Another team member and I then. were told he had difficulty transferring. and we need our transfer device, which. is designed to assist guests unable to. walk. We brought the device over to him. and he transferred into it easily. It. was a very normal transfer and he met. all ride requirements. He transferred. from the device into the vehicle easily. And investigators also got a sworn. statement from the employee who helped. secure Kevin's lap bar. Kevin, the um.

individual. that was uh riding in the wheelchair. that day. Were you helping with the lap. bar? I did. I did check I checked his. lap bar, yes. >> Okay. And was there any issues with it? The only thing that came up was um with. our loading procedures, um if the lap. bar, so we have our indicator on the. side of the seat that lets us know if. the seat's in the green or not. Um if. it's not in the green, we can tell. there's a little notch that like will. lean into the red. Um he had transferred. over um with the help from the transfer.

chair and the leads, um and he was sitting in the seat. upright um like, you know, we normally. want them to be and the lap restraint. minimum was not met. It was like this. close. So, in that like in that. situation, we would ask them, "Are you. okay? Like, are you comfortable if I. push down a little bit just to make sure. your lap bar accommodates you?" Um and. he said, "Yes." And so then I pushed the. lap bar down like we normally would two. hands, um checked again, and then the. restraint um the indicator met the.

minimum. Like, it it met where it was. supposed to be in order for him to be. able to ride. So, when you applied that. one last pressure, when you asked him, "Mhm.". Um "K, can I push down a little?" And he. said, "Yes." Mhm. And it met the minimum. requirements for it to lock. >> Yes. When you did that, did he uh. did he show any signs of discomfort? >> No, he did not show any signs of. discomfort. He didn't like he didn't. make a noise. His face didn't change. Um. >> Okay. Like and I and and we also have to. like kind of verify again like with him. like to make sure like like with anyone.

that we would do that with that they're. comfortable. Um and and he very clearly. showed signs that he was indeed. comfortable like in that seat. Like, there was no discomfort that he was. placed under. >> Did his girlfriend um. say anything like she was worried about. anything? >> No, she didn't say anything at all. And. she appeared to be fine as well. >> Yes. So, the deputies reviewed the. surveillance footage of the ride and. they made the following observations. And this is key. 8:54:20 p.m. Ride staff started to help. the decedent get seated in the ride. 8:56:57 p.m. The ride departs the.

loading unloading dock. 8:56:57 p.m. The. ride is observed at the launch point, beginning of ride, and the victim. appears to be engaged and well. 8:58:28. p.m. The ride car is observed at the. final break, but the video is from a. distance and you cannot see the. decedent. Again, 8:58:28 p.m. the ride. arrived back at the loading unloading. dock and it is evident the decedent is. unresponsive. So, you do wonder what. role that footage would have played at a. trial, right? But investigators also. interviewed Havili's again to try to.

understand exactly what happened during. the ride. I noticed that when he sit. down it was a little too low. Um they. pushed the bar out. What do you mean it. was a little too low? Um like he he's. belly was right here and he was like the. bar was like right here. Okay. So, they. pushed it and they couldn't get it. right. They pushed it again, they. couldn't get it right, and they pushed. it one more time. I think three times, I. can't I think it was three or four time,

I can't remember. Um once they got it the green. >> Mhm. Um. they did they okay and we went on the. ride. On the first drop, that's when he. kind of. went up. Mhm. And he hit his head. On. what? >> Um. we went on the the that was the last car. and he we were like on the kind of on. the front where there was like the. little bar of the car. Where there's like the metal bar. Um.

he kind of like lift I don't know how he. just lift it up. He hit his head like he would just bend. and lift his and just hit his head. >> Were you seeing this as you were riding? >> Yes, I saw it. When I noticed it, I. tried to pick them up as as fast as I. could and hold them as much as I could. and as strong as as I could. Um and I I. don't remember just gripping his shirt. cuz on the second drop, it did the same. thing. I don't remember if it was I know.

I think it was on the third drop, he hit. hit his head again. Um I don't remember. if it was the there was a fourth drop. I. know there were like three drops, probably. And then he [clears throat]. just he hit his head and then obviously. I was just screaming trying to make him. like trying to get him to talk to me to. see if he's conscious to see like he's. not. >> was all as the ride was still going on, you were trying to see if he was. conscious. >> Yes, I I I. I lost my glasses. He lost his glasses. We were just trying to like I was just. trying to get him to answer me. I was. just trying to hold him as much as I.

could. I was just hold I I don't know. every picture completely cuz I was just. holding him. According to News 6 in. Orlando, Orange-Osceola Chief Medical. Examiner Joshua Stephanie said an. autopsy revealed that the cause of death. was multiple blunt impact injuries and. the manner of death, this is key, was an. accident. And the Tallahassee Democrat. newspaper reports that the resort itself. as well as the Florida Department of. Agriculture and Consumer Services. determined that the ride systems. functioned as intended, that the.

equipment was intact, and that park. employees followed proper procedures. Now, Kevin's family wanted more concrete. answers about exactly what happened here. on the ride and whether anything had. gone wrong that could be prevented in. the future. So, what did they do? They. ended up hiring high-profile attorney. Ben Crump, announced that they were. getting their own investigators to take. a closer look at Star Wars Racers. And. then you go to October 4th, 2 weeks. after Kevin died, and the park reopened. the roller coaster. This was much to the. disappointment of the family and Ben.

Crump, who spoke at a news conference. Let me start this press conference off. with reminding you all. after this tragedy. before we had our first press conference. the president of Universal Epic. put out some statement to her team. members after the tragedy. And in large part.

she says, "Safety is. and always will be. at the forefront. of everything we do.". Well, Universal, these words ring hollow. in light of you reopening. the Star Duster. coaster this weekend.

without giving Kevin's families any. answers whatsoever. to why he was killed on your roller. coaster. The family was very. disappointed. that they reopened this ride. while we were trying to set up the. inspections. Almost like a thief in the night. went and said on a Friday afternoon, "We.

opening the ride tomorrow." You know. when the family found out that the ride. was going to be reopened? When you all found out the ride was. going to be opened. I mean, they feel it was the ultimate. disrespect. Kevin trusted. Universal. He trusted. them assisting him on the ride the ride. He trusted. the process.

He trusted the training of Universal. employees. to keep him safe and out of harm's way. Kevin trusted. the Universal officials. And that trust ended up being a death. sentence. And Kevin's family members, their pain was on full display as they. spoke at that news conference about. their loss. Kevin did nothing wrong.

He reviewed the warnings before getting. on the roller coaster. like he always did anytime he rode on. the roller coaster. He placed his trust in Universal and its. employees not to let him board on a ride. if it was dangerous for him. He believed he was safe. because Universal's actions told him. that he was safe.

We can't get Kevin back. But we can speak up to make sure no one. else loses their life this way. Kevin's. mom, Anna, delivered her statement in. Spanish and then had someone step in to. read it in English. Riding roller. coasters was something we both loved to. do together. We shared that thrill and exhilaration. It made him and I feel alive and free. One of my favorite photos of us.

is on a roller coaster. Both of us. smiling, his hands in the air. But [snorts] now. that photo is too painful to look at. because it reminds me. of how he died. When we learned. Universal had reopened the ride. we were heartbroken. It felt like losing him all over again. >> [snorts]. >> How can the ride be open before we even. have answers. about what went wrong?

Before our own experts. can even take a look at it. We're not asking them to close it. forever. We're asking them for answers. and to make it safe. because we do not want another family. to go through what we are all going. through. I continue to toss and turn at night. trying to figure out why they don't. think my son's life mattered.

If this were their children, I don't think they would have opened up. this ride so quickly. I love my son just as much as they love. their children. Whoever is making the decision to put. profit over people and their safety, may God have mercy on your soul. I'm. going to give you my legal take in a. minute, but I just want to note one more. thing. When the ride reopened, it had. some new guidelines as part of Universal. Orlando Resort's guide for safety and. accessibility. There was a list of rides.

where guests using mobility devices must. be able to walk independently, and that. now includes Star Dust Racers. The. reason I think that's significant is. whenever you see a company make a change. after an incident, there is a legal. argument that could be made is that. acknowledging fault. Is that. acknowledging liability? Is that. acknowledging a mistake? Now, under the. specific rules for the ride, there is a. note that says this attraction has a. device to assist you with your transfer. to the ride vehicle. Please see an. attractions attendant for further. information. Guests using mobility. devices must be able to walk.

independently. But then you go to the. Orange County Sheriff's Office incident. report that was released in December, and it states the following. investigator's conclusion. Based upon. the totality of the circumstances, with. consideration of known available. evidence, to include sworn statements, video surveillance, the District 9. Medical Examiner's Office findings, the. standard operating procedures provided. by Epic Universe, this case was deemed. an accidental death and was closed. accordingly. Now, I have to give you a. piece of law here. Whenever you're talking about lawsuits.

against amusement parks, many times. these parks are shielded from liability. based on something called assumption of. the risk. You can see that in the. warning signs, sometimes in a ticket or. a purchase, there will be a waiver that. you know what you're getting into, that. you're voluntarily participating in. these activities, that you're knowingly. accepting the risks, and you're doing it. anyway. And there's, you know, primary. assumption of the risk, so you. understand that there's inherent dangers. involved, but again, you're waving. liability, you're waving your right to. sue the amusement park if something, God.

forbid, should happen. But then there's. this secondary assumption of risk. So, sometimes where amusement parks are not. shielded from liability is if there was. negligent maintenance of the ride, or. there was an operational error, or there. were design defects, again, inadequate. warning. It would be very difficult for. amusement parks to say somebody waived. their right to sue and we can just. operate this roller coaster however we. want, negligently. We can have somebody. playing on a their phone while they. operate it. That's not necessarily what.

somebody is waving their rights for. They're not assuming that risk. They're. going on, they're assuming that the ride. is functioning properly. So, that is. something interesting to be thinking. about. But I want to make something. clear. As of that October press. conference, the family hadn't filed a. lawsuit against Universal Orlando, but. according to Ben Crump, they were. considering, quote, all legal options. But then you go to December, and the law. firm announced that there was a. settlement reached. A statement reads, "The family of Kevin Rodriguez Avala and. Universal have reached an amicable.

resolution in this matter. The terms are. confidential. The family is grateful for. the community support and asks for. privacy at this time." It's. confidential. We don't know exactly what. the terms were, but something to be. thinking about is an amusement park, if. they settle here, it doesn't mean that. they're at fault, per se. They just. maybe wouldn't want to go through the. time and the expense and the risk of. going to trial. You know, one of the. things that happens in litigation is. there discovery. Do they want all their. internal reports and communications.

being revealed? Maybe, maybe not. And at. the end of the day, I think this is. clear. This was a tragedy, and perhaps. entering into a settlement, perhaps. financially compensating the family to. some going to bring him back, but maybe. that helps in a way, and it's a way to. kind of resolve this situation in a way. where the family could potentially move. on and be helped. So, again, this is a. horrific situation for this family. They. lost a brother, they lost a son. You. have a girlfriend who lost her. boyfriend, and he was just doing what he. loved when he died. He was riding roller. coaster. Again, just a tragedy,

and our hearts and our prayers and our. thoughts are with his family and. friends. Difficult, to say the least. It's all we have for you right now here. on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much. for joining us, and as always, please. subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you get your podcast. [music]. You can also check us out on NBC's. Peacock, as well. If you want to follow. me, X, Instagram, my news nation show, Jesse Weber live, Monday through Friday, [music] 11:00 p.m. Eastern. See you next. time, everybody.