KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) - A former executive with the Kansas water park where a 10-year-old boy died on a giant waterslide has been charged with involuntary manslaughter.
Tyler Austin Miles, who was an operations director for Schlitterbahn, was booked into the Wyandotte County jail Friday and is being held on $50,000 bond.
According to a press release issued Friday by the office of Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, charges have also been filed against the waterpark corporation.
Both Miles and the corporation were indicted by a Wyandotte County grand jury.
Along with involuntary manslaughter, both were indicted in connection with injuries sustained by 13 other persons, including four other minors, while riding the waterslide. Those charges include aggravated battery and aggravated endangering a child. In addition, Miles was indicted on two counts of interference with law enforcement and Schlitterbahn was indicted on one count of interference with law enforcement.
Miles entered a plea of not guilty Friday and a jury trial date has been set for September 10 at 9 a.m. A status conference has been set for April 25 at 2 p.m.
The Attorney General's Office is prosecuting.
The Associated Press reports that Winter Prospapio, a spokeswoman for Schlitterbahn, said the company was "deeply disappointed" that someone was charged for the "terrible accident." She said Schlitterbahn stood by Miles, who left the company for another job in September.
Caleb Schwab died in August 2016 on the 17-story Verruckt water slide at the park in western Kansas City, Kansas. An autopsy revealed the boy was decapitated when the raft that he and two women were on went airborne. It hit a pole that supported nets that were designed to keep riders from flying off the ride.
© Associated Press/Many Signals Communications
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