A person in his 30s died after changing into unresponsive whereas driving Stardust Racers at Common Epic Universe in Orlando, Florida, on Sept. 17, 2025. Credit score: FOX 35 Orlando
The dying of 32-year-old Kevin Rodriquez-Zavala was dominated unintentional, and the investigation has been closed, in response to an incident report from the Orange County Sheriff’s Workplace.
Zavala was driving a high-speed curler coaster at Common Orlando’s Epic Universe theme park when he was discovered unresponsive. The sheriff’s workplace mentioned safety footage confirmed that Zavala was “engaged and well” at first of the journey, however was unresponsive when the coaster arrived again on the loading/unloading dock.
Stardust Racers, a part of Common Orlando’s latest theme park, Epic Universe, is a dual-launch coaster that goes as much as 62 mph. Common Orlando says the curler coaster reaches heights of as much as 133 ft.
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An worker who spoke with the sheriff’s workplace mentioned Zavala had “severe facial trauma.” Moreover, a witness quoted within the incident report advised the sheriff’s workplace that Zavala was “slumped over with blood coming from his head. His left leg was at a 90-degree angle in between the lap bar.”
Anna Marshall, a medical physician, was ready to board Stardust Racers when she heard somebody screaming “Get me out!” She assumed it was somebody having hassle respiratory on account of the journey, in response to the report.
The incident report states that Marshall knowledgeable workers that she was a medical physician and will help within the scenario. Marshall advised authorities that she noticed Zavala “completely slouched over with blood surrounding him.” She advised investigators that on the time she famous that Zavala’s thigh bone was utterly damaged in half and resting on the again of the journey chair.
Javiliz Cruz-Robles, Zavala’s girlfriend, was additionally on the journey and advised investigators that staff pushed down on Zavala’s lap bar a number of instances earlier than the journey started. Nevertheless, she thought it was nonetheless too low.
Kevin Rodriguez Zavala, 32, died after changing into unresponsive on the Stardust Racers rollercoaster at Common Epic Universe on Sept. 17, 2025. (GoFundMe)
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Cruz-Robles spoke with Marshall because the physician tried to manage support to Zavala. Marshall recalled Cruz-Robles repeating “his mom’s going to kill me,” referring to a dialog about Zavala happening rides.
Zavala was wheelchair-bound and had a number of medical challenges, in response to his dad and mom, Carlos Rodriguez Ortiz and Anne Zavala. Due to these points, they had been involved about their son happening sure rides.
Kevin was born with spinal wire atrophy and had gone by way of surgical procedures all through his life. Additionally they mentioned that Kevin had beforehand fractured his femur in 2020, which additionally required surgical procedure. Kevin additionally suffered from a hip dislocation that required surgical procedure in 2010. Carlos advised investigators that Kevin’s mom at all times advised him to not journey curler coasters however that he by no means listened.
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The household had claimed that Zavala’s dying was not an remoted incident, however reasonably a part of a patten.
Common’s data, which had been obtained by WOFL, confirmed that the theme park had data of two accidents since its opening. The primary occurred on June 22, when a 63-year-old man reported dizziness and an altered state of consciousness, which the theme park attributed to a preexisting situation. The second incident occurred two days later when a 47-year-old lady reported a visible disturbance and numbness. The theme park attributed this to a preexisting situation as nicely.
In September, the District 9 Medical Examiner’s Workplace decided his reason behind dying to be “multiple blunt impact injuries and the manner of death to be an accident” following Zavala’s post-mortem, the Orange County Sheriff’s Workplace famous in its incident report.
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The sheriff’s workplace decided that Epic Universe staff “followed their Standards Operating Procedures and did not act in a careless or neglectful manner.”
“Based upon the totality of the circumstances, with consideration of known, available evidence, to include sworn statements, video surveillance, the District Nine Medical Examiner’s Office findings, the standard operating procedures provided by Epic Universe, this case was deemed an accidental death and was closed accordingly,” the sheriff’s workplace wrote within the report.
Fox Enterprise reached out to the Orange County Sheriff’s Workplace and Common Orlando for remark.
