Texas Supreme Court dismisses lawsuit vs. Waco in Cameron Park death

The Supreme Court of Texas ruled Friday that the city of Waco cannot be sued in the 2004 death of a McLennan Community College baseball player who fell to his death from a Cameron Park cliff.  The decision reverses a January 2008 ruling by Waco's 10th Court of Appeals that said Debra Kirwan, mother of Brad McGehee, could sue the city for wrongful death.

Kirwan, of Belton, filed the lawsuit in 2005 after her 20-year-old son, an all-state shortstop and a sophomore, fell about 60 feet to his death while watching boat races from the edge of Circle Point Cliff in Cameron Park.

The Supreme Court held that under the recreational use statute, the city, which erected barricades and put up warning signs near the sheer park cliffs, had no duty to warn or protect visitors from "a naturally occurring condition."  The Court ruled that while the crumbling of a large section of the cliff was not necessarily foreseeable, "the general risk of a cliff's edge is." The court noted that loose rocks and cracks in the cliff would have been visible to park patrons.

The ruling will most likely affect a lawsuit pending in Waco's 74th State District Court that was filed against the city by the parents of Baylor University student Brandon Palady who also fell to his death from Circle Point in February 2006.

If you or someone you know has been injured or killed due to the negligence of another party, please contact the attorneys of Schechter, McElwee, Shaffer & Harris, LLP for a free evaluation of your case at (800) 282-2122.