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Mother's lawsuit claims Butte carnival's broken seats led to her son's death
The family alleges 10 ride seats lacked proper restraints and seeks punitive and monetary damages from the carnival operator, inspectors and county officials.
- Ashley Hossack, mother of 13-year-old Clayton Phillips, filed a wrongful death lawsuit on Friday, Aug. 7, 2026, alleging negligence caused her son's fatal fall from a Yo-Yo ride at the Butte Civic Center in June.
- The lawsuit alleges at least 10 Yo-Yo chairs had visible, deficient restraints, and accuses Butte-Silver Bow and Midway West Amusements of failing to implement "reasonable procedures to verify the safety of the Yo-Yo."
- Hossack also named Shady Acres Safety Services and owner Dennis Sutherland as defendants, citing the firm's two pre-incident inspections and failure to disclose known deficiencies while seeking punitive damages.
- Butte-Silver Bow, which received 15% of the carnival's gross revenue, has three weeks to provide a formal response, though County Attorney Matt Enrooth previously found no criminal culpability regarding the ride's operation.
- Documents show Midway West was required to carry $1 million in liability insurance per occurrence and $1.5 million combined single limit, as the suit seeks unspecified damages including funeral expenses and lost earnings.
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Helena Independent Record+2 Reposted by 2 other sources
Mother of boy killed on carnival ride in Butte sues ride owner, inspector and city-county
The suit alleges that the lack of or failure of a restraint system on the chair the boy was in caused him to fall or be thrown from the ride.
·Helena, United States
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Mother's lawsuit claims Butte carnival's broken seats led to her son's death
BUTTE, Mont. – The mother of a 13-year-old fatally injured on a carnival ride in Butte filed a wrongful death lawsuit, claiming that the Yo-Yo ride at the Butte Civic Center had 10 chairs with deficient restraints that caused her…
·Billings, United States
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