Inset: Kaleb Ortega (GoFundMe). Background: The park in Washington state where Kaleb Ortega was killed (KNDO).
A 3-year-old Washington state boy was fatally crushed by a massive stone monument at a public park that was too top-heavy and unstable, with his father and 5-year-old sister watching the horror unfold, a lawsuit says.
Kaleb Ortega and his family were at Rooks Park in Walla Walla when the tragedy happened on April 1, according to the Elkhorn Media Group and Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, which obtained a legal complaint filed by Kaleb”s parents in Walla Walla County Superior Court.
The complaint states that the monument in question — honoring U.S. Naval Capt. Albert H. Rooks and the USS Houston CA-30 — “fell in a matter of seconds and crushed Kaleb” because it was too heavy, unstable and inadequately supported. His parents say there should have been warnings or instructions alerting parkgoers to the monument’s potential to fall.
“On what started as a normal, happy day filled with play, an unimaginable accident occurred that took Kaleb from us far too soon,” a GoFundMe description says. “No one could have anticipated the heartbreak that would follow.”
Kaleb’s mother, a hospital nurse, was working her Wednesday shift when an ambulance brought him in with fatal injuries. The complaint recounts how she watched emergency resuscitation efforts being performed on Kaleb, which caused her to suffer severe emotional trauma. He died at the hospital.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reportedly closed Rooks Park after the incident and removed the monument. Boulder Designs, Boulder Designs Franchising LLC, Border Magic, Builders FirstSource Inc., American Rock Products, Wenzel Nursery, Double T Construction Ltd., Neil Binder and the Binder marital community are all named as defendants in the suit.
The companies and individuals allegedly constructed and displayed the monument. Kaleb’s parents allege that the monument was renovated as part of a 2019 Eagle Scout project, with modifications replacing aging wooden elements with rock features, the Union-Bulletin reports.
The defendants have been served with notices of the lawsuit but have not yet filed responses as of June 17. None of the defendants have responded to requests for comment.
