Judge moves Adventureland trial over wrongful death of child to Scott County

A judge this week moved a wrongful-death civil trial from Polk to Scott County in the lawsuit stemming from an Adventureland Park water raft ride that flipped and killed an 11-year-old Marion boy and seriously injured his 15-year-old brother.

In his ruling, 5th Judicial District Judge Paul Scott said the pretrial publicity “rises to the level of severity such that prejudice must be presumed.”

The news articles about the death go beyond providing information about the July 3, 2021, accident and the lawsuit filed in 2022, he stated.

He agreed with the Adventureland attorneys, who asked for the change of venue, that many of the published articles and television broadcasts are “highly prejudicial” to Adventureland because they imply liability without a trial.

Scott said the headlines were not objective, and he included several examples in his ruling. Some include emotional quotes from the parents of 11-year-old Michael Jaramillo and 15-year-old David Jaramillo Jr. Other reports cite other safety violations at Adventureland.

The judge also stated in his ruling that the number of articles show the “pervasive nature” of the pretrial publicity.

Des Moines news outlets alone published 46 articles, and 56 broadcasts were related to the case. Most of the coverage has been by central Iowa news outlets, but the case also received national coverage by the Associated Press, CNN and USA Today, he said.

“The court is also concerned by the inflammatory nature of the potential prejudice arising from the political campaign advertisements during the 2022 election season,” Scott said.

He specifically noted campaign commercials from one political candidate who alleged the accident happened because Adventureland made contributions to her political opponent.

Scott concluded that Adventureland demonstrated a substantial likelihood that a fair and impartial jury can’t be selected in Polk County due to the pretrial publicity and moved the trial out of central Iowa to Davenport in Scott County.

The trial is set for Oct. 21, 2024.

Lawsuit claims

According to the lawsuit, parents David and Sabrina Jaramillo Sr. of Cedar Rapids, formerly of Marion, contend their children were trapped underwater when the 1,700-pound Raging River raft suddenly flipped their entire family underwater on July 3, 2021.

Michael, 11, and David Jr., 15, remained trapped underwater for more than five minutes as rescue attempts by the injured parents were unsuccessful, the suit stated.

Adventureland continued to operate the Raging River ride despite the parents screaming and the overturned raft, forcing “thousands of pounds” of water down the river and releasing additional rafts as the children remained trapped underwater, according to the lawsuit.

People nearby who heard the Jaramillos screaming came to help the family — including a woman in a passing raft who jumped in to assist — and eventually pulled the boys from under water. Nobody from Adventureland came to help, the lawsuit contends.

The suit states the Altoona amusement park has failed to properly maintain and repair its attractions, including the Raging River ride, for years. The ride continued to operate that day despite there having been serious problems with rafts striking the bottom of the ride, air bladders within the rafts deflating and mechanical equipment failures, according to the suit.

The park was sold to Palace Entertainment after the boy’s death, and Bill Lentz, Adventureland’s general manager, remained in that position for the new owner. The Raging River ride was permanently closed, Lentz said in a letter posted on the park’s website in February.

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