The parents of an 8-year-old boy who died while playing at his Utah elementary school's playground are suing the school.
Dallin Cunningham was on the corkscrew slide at Rose Springs Elementary School in February 2023 when he "flew out" on a turn seven feet above ground, according to a lawsuit obtained by the Sacramento Bee.
"The best estimate that the police were able to come up with is that the slide is 11 feet tall," attorney Peter Mifflin told KSL-TV. "His exit from the slide was approximately seven feet off the ground. In what position he was in, we're not sure."
According to the lawsuit, Dallin landed on a "frozen rock-hard" ground and later died at a hospital from blunt force trauma to his head.
The suit alleges negligence and says the district did not properly supervise the use of playground equipment and allowed "unreasonably dangerous" conditions on the school's playground, located about 25 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.
"We believe that the slide was too steep, also was not protected so that someone could come out laterally," Mifflin told KSL-TV. The slide has since been removed from the playground.
The suit also claims there was not enough mulch below the slide in freezing temperatures to absorb the hard impact of Dallin's fall.
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Per national standards set by the Consumer Product Safety Commission and other organizations, there should have been 12 inches of mulch filling the area below the slide with the potential of that mulch compressing to a minimum of 9 inches.
The suit claims the mulch at Rose Springs Elementary School measured about "one inch in depth before being frozen solid underneath."
The school district declined to comment on the lawsuit.
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