ICON Park: 'He had a terrific future forward of him.' Friends and teammates of stripling killed in Florida theme park trip honor him in vigil -

That’s how family and friends in a Missouri vigil remembered 14-year-old Tyre Sampson, who died final Thursday when he fell off an amusement park thrill trip whereas on a spring break journey to Orlando, Florida.

“He was fun, he was a good dude,” Kameron Smith, who mentioned he performed soccer with Tyre, instructed CNN affiliate KMOV. “He helped me when I was in practice, when I would do something wrong, he’d help me with it and try to fix it and then when I’d mess up he’d try to encourage me.”

Tyre attended center college within the St. Louis space however was training at his future highschool throughout the river with Gregory and his gamers at East Saint Louis High School in East St. Louis, Illinois.

Smith’s mom, Victoria, additionally took discover of Sampson, who she mentioned was all the time respectful and properly mannered and that, regardless of his tall stature, “you had to lean in to hear him cause he talked so softly.”

“As a mother, it hurts. As a football family, it hurts,” she mentioned. “It’s a loss for all of us.”

“He had a great future ahead of him, he was so amazing, so respectful,” she added. “He was the first one to support my son when he’d get done with a practice or a drill or something like that, so I was thankful.”

Dozens of individuals attended the vigil beneath a dismal sky Thursday night in a park in Ferguson, Missouri, and launched colourful balloons into the sky in Tyre’s honor.

“You can see the influence, at age 14, that this young man had,” Damon Cotton, who mentioned he was a cousin of the teenager, instructed CNN affiliate KSDK. “He truly had the support of the community all over this area.”

Rides suspended pending an investigation

Tyre died after falling from the FreeFall drop tower trip at Orlando’s ICON Park. The FreeFall takes riders to the highest of a 430-foot tower and falls at speeds of as much as 75 mph, the park’s web site says.

Operators name it the world’s tallest freestanding drop tower.

Dollywood closes drop tower ride out of 'abundance of caution' after fatal fall at Orlando amusement park

The FreeFall trip handed a security inspection in December earlier than it was allowed to open, in accordance with a security inspection report obtained by CNN.

Following the teenager’s demise, the park demanded that the Slingshot Group, the proprietor of the trip, droop the FreeFall and the Orlando Slingshot, a second trip, “until the attractions are proven to be safe by authorities.”

The Slingshot Group CEO, Ritchie Armstrong, mentioned in an announcement the corporate suspended the operations of the 2 rides at ICON Park and was “fully cooperating with the authorities at the state and local levels who are investigating this tragic incident.”

“We plan on providing additional information in the coming days, as we learn more,” Armstrong mentioned.

Late final week, attorneys Ben Crump and Bob Hilliard introduced they’d been employed individually by the teenager’s dad and mom and requested anybody who was on the trip on the time or witnessed the incident to contact them.

“This young man was the kind of son every parent hopes for — an honor roll student, an aspiring athlete, and a kind-hearted person who cared about others,” Crump, who was employed by Tyre’s father, mentioned in an announcement. “A fun theme park visit with his football team should not have ended in tragedy.”

Yarnell Sampson, the daddy, known as the incident a “freak situation” and mentioned in an interview that he would have given something to present his son the prospect to stay out his desires: to play skilled soccer.

CNN’s Alisha Ebrahimji contributed to this report.