{"id":79929,"date":"2025-12-11T23:02:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T23:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/79929\/"},"modified":"2025-12-11T23:02:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T23:02:10","slug":"death-report-reveals-disturbing-aftermath-after-rider-killed-on-stardust-racers-at-epic-universe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/79929\/","title":{"rendered":"Death report reveals disturbing aftermath after rider killed on Stardust Racers at Epic Universe"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 A final incident report has been released after a guest at Epic Universe died while riding the Stardust Racers rollercoaster<\/a> earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Investigative documents show that the incident happened on the night of Sept. 17, when 32-year-old Kevin Rodriguez Zavala was found unresponsive on the ride<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Zavala was pronounced dead at the hospital, but Orange County fire officials said that he hadn\u2019t fallen from the roller coaster.<\/p>\n

The medical examiner originally told News 6 that the cause of death was \u201cmultiple blunt impact injuries,\u201d though Thursday\u2019s released report sheds some more light on what exactly happened.<\/p>\n

According to the report, Zavala appeared to have suffered \u201csevere facial trauma,\u201d with witnesses reporting a \u201csignificant amount of blood loss.\u201d<\/p>\n

[BELOW: Video shared with News 6 shows apparent unresponsive rider on Stardust Racers]<\/p>\n

First responders said they learned that Zavala was wheelchair-bound as a result of a preexisting spinal injury, meaning his legs didn\u2019t work properly.<\/p>\n

Investigators stated that Zavala\u2019s girlfriend of 10 years, Javiliz Cruz-Robles, had also been riding on the coaster, and she told first responders what she\u2019d seen before the ride kicked off.<\/p>\n

\u201cDirectly before the ride began, a Universal ride employee pushed down on Zavala\u2019s lap restraint multiple times,\u201d the report reads. \u201cCruz-Robles remembers very little about what happened next but remembers seeing him hit his head on the seat multiple times.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cruz-Robles explained that when they got to the first downhill, Zavala \u201cflew forward,\u201d hitting his head.<\/p>\n

\u201cJaviliz stated she (had) seen Kevin hit his head multiple times. Javiliz attempted to hold him back but couldn\u2019t do so,\u201d the report says. \u201cJaviliz was crying for help, but due to being in the middle of the ride, no one heard her screaming for help until the train cart was getting close to the station.\u201d<\/p>\n

[BELOW: Cause of death released after man killed on Epic Universe rollercoaster]<\/p>\n

A doctor visiting the park who was waiting to get on the ride also reported seeing the bloodied Zavala, who appeared to be \u201clifeless,\u201d slouched over with his arm hanging over the side. <\/p>\n

After jumping into action to examine Zavala\u2019s body, the doctor described that his femur was completely broken in half and resting on the back of his seat.<\/p>\n

\u201c(The doctor) recalled that Javiliz Cruz-Robles kept repeating, \u2018His mom\u2019s going to kill me,\u2019 referring to a previous discussion that they were worried about him riding certain rides,\u201d the report continues.<\/p>\n

The doctor also told investigators that, based on her observations, she believed that his broken femur played a big role in Zavala striking his head on the metal bar in front of him.<\/p>\n

However, the doctor didn\u2019t believe that Zavala\u2019s defective legs were the sole reason behind his death, investigators added.<\/p>\n

[BELOW: Florida sends investigator to look at Stardust Racers roller coaster after death]<\/p>\n

During later interviews, detectives said they learned that Zavala and his girlfriend had been riding several other attractions at the park that day, including other roller coasters.<\/p>\n

Alongside the spinal injury, Cruz-Robles reportedly explained that Zavala had metal rods in his back due to his spine surgery, as well as a prior hip condition. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs the interview continued, Javiliz Cruz-Robles said (she) had just learned about Kevin Rodriguez-Zavala\u2019s previous hip injury and said she \u2018guessing\u2019 (sic) that his previous hip injury could have been the cause of him coming so far out of the seat,\u201d detectives wrote.<\/p>\n

However, Attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Zavala\u2019s family after his death<\/a>, has claimed that Zavala did not have any back, neck or similar physical conditions.<\/p>\n

[BELOW: Attorney, family of man who died after riding Stardust Racers condemn reopening]<\/p>\n

Ultimately, investigators determined that the incident was an \u201caccidental death\u201d and that the case is now closed.<\/p>\n

\u201cUpon reviewing the documents, complied with the sworn statements and video surveillance, it appeared that all employees of Epic Universe followed their Standard Operating Procedures and did not act in a careless or neglectful manner,\u201d investigators said.<\/p>\n

When Stardust Racers reopened after Zavala\u2019s death, the safety and accessibility guides<\/a> for Epic Universe and its sister Central Florida theme parks were updated. Prior to the death, the Epic Universe safety guide<\/a> for Stardust Racers said it was \u201cnot for guests with back, neck or similar physical conditions.\u201d That still exists in the updated guide.<\/p>\n

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Copyright 2025 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 A final incident report has been released after a guest at Epic Universe died while…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79930,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[4424,6113,28,1335,139,141,140,9456,9457,2411,3435],"class_list":{"0":"post-79929","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-death-investigation","9":"tag-epic-universe","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-orange-county","12":"tag-orlando","13":"tag-orlando-headlines","14":"tag-orlando-news","15":"tag-stardust-racers","16":"tag-stardust-racers-death","17":"tag-theme-parks","18":"tag-universal"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}