Wongel Estifanos.Photo: GoFundMe
The parents of Wongel Estifanos — the 6-year-old girl who suffered afatal fall on a Colorado amusement park ridelast September — have issued a statement after learning that no criminal charges will be filed in connection with her death.
Estifanos' family filed awrongful death lawsuitin October 2021, almost a month after the release of a state investigation that found the girlwas not buckled into the attractionat Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park.
The report stated that the accident “was the result of multiple operator errors,” claiming that Wongel wassitting on top of her two seat beltsinstead of wearing them across her body.
In a letter dated Jan. 25, 9th Judicial District Attorney Jefferson Cheney addressed his"formal charging decision"about whether to file criminal charges related to “the untimely and tragic death of a six-year-old child.”
“My conclusion is strictly based upon the standard of evidentiary proof applicable in a criminal prosecution,” he added.
“We never wanted the people who killed our daughter to go to jail. But for the DA to let them off with nothing says our daughter’s life was worth nothing. Justice should be equal. Our little girl should matter as much as a big corporation,” they continued. “What a terrible message to send.”
The Estifanos family.the Estifanos family
In the statement, they also claimed that no drug tests were performed on the ride operators. The district attorney’s office tells PEOPLE they don’t have information about employee drug tests.
“We want the full truth. We want justice for our daughter. We want to protect others. The criminal system failed our daughter,” Wongel’s parents wrote. “We will now go to civil court and prove it on our own.”
On Wednesday, Steve Beckley, founder of Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park, issued a statement, saying that they “continue to offer our condolences to the Estifanos family.““I am so sorry for their loss and while I understand that my words cannot touch their grief, my heart continues to ache for them,” Beckley said. “As I have said before, safety is and always has been our top priority. We have always put people – our guests and our team members – above all else.““One accident is one too many, and we are taking steps to be sure that nothing like that can ever happen again,” Beckley continued. “In regard to the Sheriff’s Department’s report and District Attorney’s findings, we appreciate their hard work as well as the work of the Colorado Division of Oil and Public Safety Amusement Rides and Devices Division.”
The trip to the Colorado amusement park took place over Labor Day weekend — the family’sfirst trip togethersince the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to thelawsuit.
“When the ride came to stop at the bottom of the mine shaft, Wongel’s uncle checked to see whether Wongel had enjoyed the ride,” the complaint stated, noting that he was soon “stricken with terror to see that Wongel was not in her seat.”
A report from the State of Colorado investigators claimed that at the time of the incident, an alarm system alerted ride workers of an issue and prevented the operators from dispatching the ride.
The ride operators then “took several incorrect actions and reset the ride seatbelt monitors which allowed them to dispatch the ride,” the report stated. Unrestrained, Wongel then became separated from her seat during the 110-foot drop and fell to the bottom of the attraction’s shaft, investigators said.
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The Haunted Mine Drop ride, which first opened in 2017, was described in asince-deleted pageon the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park website as “the first drop ride in the world to go underground, plunging riders 110 feet inside the dark depths of Iron Mountain in what feels like a free-fall.” The ride, whichclosedfollowing Wongel’s death, is no longer listed on the amusement park’s website.
In a statement previously shared with PEOPLE, the park’s general manager, Nancy Heard, said “we are deeply saddened and ask that the family and all those impacted be remembered in your thoughts and prayers.”
A GoFundMe has been created on her family’s behalf. Those interested in donating can do sohere.
source: people.com
