Ferris fall victim's parents sue ride operator

The parents of an 11-year-old girl on a class trip who fell to her death from a Wildwood Ferris wheel June 3 have sued Morey's Piers, operators of the amusement ride.

"It's a really sad story; she was a promising little girl," James Beasley Jr., a lawyer for the family of the victim, Abiah Jones, of Pleasantville, N.J., said Thursday after filing the suit.

The lawsuit, which didn't specify an amount sought but asked for a jury trial, was filed by Twanda and Byron Jones in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, instead of in New Jersey.

Abiah, a fifth-grader at PleasantTech Academy, of Pleasantville, was on a field trip for honor students when she boarded the Big Wheel alone, the suit said. It was her first ride on a Ferris wheel, according to the suit.

The 156-foot-high ride, on Morey's Mariner's Landing Pier, has no safety restraints, the suit said.

The investigation also found that winds were gusting up to 25 miles per hour, which "can cause these carriages to swing back and forth," Beasley said.

The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs has released a preliminary report suggesting that Abiah might have been kneeling or standing on the gondola's seat or leaning out too far when she fell. It said that Abiah was old enough and tall enough to ride alone.

After the tragedy, Morey's decided to raise height requirements for children boarding the ride without an adult from the state-required 4 1/2 feet to 5 feet.

Investigators from the New Jersey Carnival Ride Safety Unit found no mechanical defects but recommended at least two passengers per compartment on high-rise rides without restraints. A spokeswoman for Morey's could not be reached for comment.