Authorities have released a chilling final report on the death of 32-year-old Kevin Rodriguez Zavala — a Florida man who was found unresponsive after riding the Stardust Racers roller coaster at Universal’s Epic Universe theme park in Orlando.
According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, Zavala’s death was ruled an accident — the result of “multiple blunt impact injuries” sustained during the ride. Officials concluded Thursday that “no criminal acts occurred.”
But eyewitness accounts paint a harrowing picture of the moments before his fatal injuries.
Investigators interviewed Zavala’s girlfriend, Javiliz Cruz-Robles, who was seated beside him on the coaster. She recalled struggling to secure his lap bar before the ride began.
“It took several tries,” she told detectives. “The safety bar looked too low, but the operator kept pushing until it clicked.”
She said everything seemed fine at first — until the first drop.
“Kevin came partway out of his seat,” she said. “He hit his head on the bar in front of us. I was screaming for help, but no one could hear me.”
Cruz-Robles tried desperately to hold him back as his head struck the front bar repeatedly. By the time the ride returned to the station, witnesses said he was bleeding heavily and unresponsive.
“He still had the lap bar locked,” a park employee told investigators. “We followed all procedures. It was horrifying to see.”
Family members said Zavala had lived his entire life with a rare spinal condition — Spinal Cord Atrophy — which required multiple surgeries and left him partially dependent on a wheelchair. He also had a history of hip and leg fractures.
“He’d overcome so much,” his father, Carlos Rodriguez Ortiz, said in an emotional statement. “Kevin was born fighting. We never thought a theme park ride would take him.”
Zavala’s family retained civil rights attorney Ben Crump shortly after his death, pledging to conduct an independent investigation. “Families deserve transparency and accountability,” Crump said in a statement to Orlando News Now. “A man in a wheelchair should never die on a ride marketed as safe for all guests.”
After reviewing video footage, sworn employee statements, and medical findings, the sheriff’s office concluded that Universal staff acted according to protocol.
“There was no evidence of negligence,” officials wrote. “All safety procedures were followed as designed. This was an accidental death.”
Still, theme park safety experts say the tragedy raises important questions. “Theme parks are heavily regulated,” said industry consultant Dr. Ian McCreedy, “but even one mechanical misalignment or human misjudgment can turn a thrill ride into a nightmare.”
Friends and family described Zavala as a gentle, old-souled man with a “heart full of compassion.”
“Kevin was the kind of person who listened when others wouldn’t,” his sister Anne Zavala said. “He had this quiet strength. Losing him like this — it’s unbearable.”
A GoFundMe created for the family has raised more than $40,000, with supporters sharing messages of grief and outrage.
“His light will never go out,” one donor wrote. “But someone needs to make sure no one else dies this way.”
Source: Orange County Sheriff’s Office, District Nine Medical Examiner, Family Statements, Orlando News Now
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