S2 Ep 12. Batman Rollercoaster: The Tragic Tale of Asia Ferguson

00:00 - David (Host)
Amusement parks are fun. They attract thousands of people every year. But sometimes the younger crowd gets a little curious. Sometimes they may disobey signs that clearly tells them something bad is on the other side, but when one boy decided to ignore those signs, it would cost him his life. Join me as I examine the case of Asaya Ferguson in the Batman roller coaster accident on this episode of True Crime Authors and Extraordinary People. 

00:47 - Jaquie (Announcement)
Welcome to True Crime Authors and Extraordinary People, the podcast where we bring two passions together. The show that gives new meaning to the old adage truth is stranger than fiction. And reminding you that there is an extraordinary person in all of us. Here is your host, david McClam. 

01:08 - David (Host)
What's going on everybody? Welcome to the episode of True Crime. Authors and Extraordinary People Of course I'm your man, david McClam. Hey, if you haven't already, make sure you follow us on all of our social media. One link to a link tree. It gets you every place you need to go. Pertaining to the show. 

01:27
All right, before we begin, a couple things to tell you guys. The first one is, if you guys listened back to my episode, that was the Highland shooting and the continuous downfall of the Palmdale School District, you know that there was an investigation that was done, so I will come back and let you guys know what happened with that. I'm going to drop a bonus episode, so one that is not in the regular rhythm, but one that you can certainly listen to if you are curious to know what happened with that investigation. I will also tell you the things that was done because of the dropping of that episode, as well as the investigation and what happened, and maybe it's what you think would happen, or maybe it's what I assume would happen, which is nothing. So tune in, I will bring you guys the decision on that, let you know where the rights and the wrongs were and to let you know what I got accomplished just by releasing that episode, and it would not be possible if you guys were not listening to it. So I thank you for listening to it and I hope that it gave you some better insights of what your school system may be like and what your kids may be going through, so that any red flags that you may see as a parent you can jump right on it. All right. So before we begin, just let me say, as I always do now if you are someone or know someone that is struggling and is considering suicide or other methods of hurting themselves, please leave this episode called 988. That will get you some help. You can call or you can text that your mental health is the most important thing and no matter what it is that you are going through in life, nothing is worth your life and we do need you here. 

03:26
So the trigger warnings is this will deal with decapitation and, in some ways, a brutal form of dying. So if any of that triggers you, please skip this episode and I will understand. So today's case some people will say that it's not criminal, but it kind of is, because trespassing is a crime, and I think that's what happened in this case we are going to talk about the Batman ride accident that decapitated a young man named Asaya Ferguson. Now there's not a lot of information on this case, even though it did happen back in 2008. There is no Wikipedia that you guys can go and read up on this one, so I will leave you the article that I am reading this from. That article is from the Fox News channel. So thanks to Fox News, as well as the YouTube channel, disaster Thon, so those are my sources for this episode. Also, to all the parents listening, this is kind of a cautionary tale that maybe we should keep our eyes on our young people when we go to these amusement parks. So here we go. 

04:44
A teenager was decapitated by a roller coaster after he hopped a pair of fences and entered a restricted area Saturday at six flags over Georgia. Authorities said Six flags officials are uncertain why 17-year-old Asiya LaShawn Ferguson of Springfield, south Carolina, scaled two six-foot fences and passed signs that said the restricted area was both off-limits and dangerous to visitors. Spokeswoman Hela Sheath said in a news release these were investigating reports of witnesses who said that Ferguson jumped the fences to retrieve a hat he lost while riding the Batman roller coaster, said Cobb County police sergeant Daner Pierce, six flags said it closed the roller coaster after the Saturday afternoon accident out of respect for the Ferguson's family. I think that right there kind of tells you the show will go on regardless of what happens. But they did the right thing here and they shut it down for that one afternoon, from what I was gathering from all the research I did, just out of respect for the Ferguson's family. So police said the ride was going full speed when Asiya Ferguson was struck. The ride's top speed is 50 miles per hour. According to the park's website, no one riding on the roller coaster was injured. Sheath said the teen was with another boy who also entered the restricted area but was not injured. 

06:12
Ferguson and his parents were at the park with a group from the Oki Spring Baptist Church near Springfield, south Carolina. Police said let's kind of set that a little bit. So yes, they were on a church outing when this took place. Now if you're wondering why the other young man that was with Asiya did not get hurt, it's because, according to some witnesses, asiya tried to go up underneath the roller coaster. Now one witness said that they saw both boys run past her and full speed scaled the fences to get over to this other side. So there is some controversy as of to what did happen. Did Asiya jump the fences because he was going to retrieve a hat that fell off his head while riding the Batman roller coaster, or was he trying to cut through the park, which is one theory that the police is thinking? Now, before we go on to further, let's talk about how it is that, unfortunately, he met his end. So when he climbed over the fences, he indeed did try to go up underneath the roller coaster, for whatever reason. 

07:26
If you've never seen the Batman roller coaster that's in six flags, it's a free feet hanging roller coaster. So I've ever been on those roller coasters that you know. You have solid ground while you're sitting there waiting for the takeoff, but the moment that the roller coaster starts to move, the floor drops from underneath your feet and your feet is free hanging. This is what the Batman roller coaster is. So it goes up into a loop where the people that's riding it is turned upside down, feet up in the air as it comes down to another loop where it then goes up underneath where the feet is hanging. Well, this is where Asiya Ferguson is, because she climbed up under there, so the roller coaster is coming towards him at full speed Now, according to their website, it's 50 miles per hour, but if you've ever ridden one of these coasters before, okay, it really may be 50 miles per hour, but you know that it feels like it's going way faster than that. In any case, it was fast enough that a rider's feet came in contact with Asiya's head and when it did it decapitated him. From the reports that, my friends, is fast moving, they say no one on the coaster got hurt, but I'm kind of shocked that whoever's foot it was at that speed and not prepared to kick somebody, did not have a fracture or a sprain or anything, but from all reports, everybody walked away from that, except for Asiya. 

09:04
Now we have to look at what is young people thinking, and before I say this, please understand that I am not victim shaming here or any of that, but you know, in this podcast, I always say sometimes you have to kinda look at the obvious and say the things that other people are afraid to say. Now I wanna say this. Before I say that, though, because I don't want anybody to think that Aseah Ferguson was this vigilante kid that just decided he wanted to go and do something he shouldn't do. From all accounts, aseah was well liked. He was a very good student. He got very good grades. He was at the top of his high school. Everybody loved him. He was a good kid, went to church every week, which is why he was at Six Flags in Georgia because it was a church trip. 

10:00
So this is not a kid that's running around the neighborhood ripping it up, tearing it up or causing problems. I wanna get that out the way, just in case that goes to your mind with my next statement. However, sometimes our children gets curious. Or they wanna do things that they know they shouldn't do, or they wanna know why exactly is all these signs here? Why can't I go over there Now? Sometimes common sense has to kick in, right. So you're standing outside one of these rides. I've been to Six Flags before, not the one in Georgia, but they're all constructed about the same way. You can look outside and you can see how the things is running and why the fences is there. 

10:44
My family and I are season pass holders to Knott's Berry Farm, which is owned by the conglomerate Cedar Fair, which somehow Six Flags missed that because it just bought a bunch of parks up. So when we roll into the parking lot of Knott's Berry Farm, there is this one coaster that comes over the parking area and there's big signs there and there's big fences that letting you know, hey, it may not be a good idea to come over here. So what was Isaiah thinking those days? We don't know, but I think maybe they wanted to be curious kids, maybe they wanted to see if they could get to the other side of the park, or maybe they just wanted to check out what was up with the ride. But common sense should have told them hey man, look, this is saying it's dangerous everywhere. We shouldn't jump over here. 

11:33
Now, if it is because of a hat, you got to let the hat go. Now, understand, maybe it's a family heirloom or something like that. Then the proper thing to do would be to go and alert somebody and say hey man, I don't know how we can get this done, but do you have a crew member? Because that hat means a whole lot to me and it fell off my head. Now let's kind of backtrack that though, just in case you've never been to any of these kind of parks, because I don't see how he would lose his hat. Here's why I say that, unless six flags and stop doing this but every music park that I've been to, including the one I go to frequently now, which is Nottsbury Farm, if you go to get on a ride they have a bucket that is right there, individual buckets, and they say if you have anything that may fall off or you don't want to fall on this ride, put it here. Now you got some workers that standing near here, so they're going to watch it. No one's going to steal your stuff. In most cases they'll come and say hey man, look that hat's going to probably fly, let's put the hat over here. 

12:35
Nobody is saying any of that has taken place. That the witness said that these two boys ran past her and jumped six foot fences, two of them to get over to this ride. The other question you kind of have to ask yourself is, if it is true that they were trying to cut through the park, why didn't the other boy follow? Did he jump over the fence and he saw how close that the feet was coming to the ground and he decided I'm not going to try that. Did he try to stop us, say you're from going? Did he say anything? These are questions. We would never know. But here is the one thing I'm glad about, and some people might say this is cruel, but I don't think that it is. In a lot of these type of cases People will try to follow a lawsuit for wrongful death. It's happening right now and I call BS on the lawsuit and I'll tell you why. 

13:38
If you frequent Panera bread then you've probably heard of this suit. I'm in Panera bread every day because I'm a member of the SIP club. Because of my job and what I do, I'm always in the car, always needing drinks. It costs me less money to pay Panera bread $13 a month that I can have as many drinks as I want to have in the day, with the two hour in between each fill up period. But that's saving me three to four dollars for a bottle of soda out here. But never bread has this stuff called charged lemonade. It's charged because it tells you that it has, I think, double the caffeine. It is regular strongest coffee that they sell. 

14:27
The lawsuit comes up that a young girl goes in, gets a charge lemonade, drink the charge lemonade and then she dies. We started noticing a change in Panera bread because I believe this happened back in October because all of a sudden the charge lemonade disappeared. It was gone one day they didn't have any and then all of a sudden you walk in and they have the charge lemonade behind the counter. So I started digging into this. So apparently what happened is the young lady already had a heart condition. The heart condition was to the point to where she could not consume any caffeine because it would irritate. Whatever this heart condition was, all of her friends says that she stayed away from anything that she knew potentially had caffeine in it because it was dangerous to her. Their lawsuit is saying that Panera bread did not advertise or have enough signage around us says that this stuff had caffeine in it. I'm all for sticking it to the people who don't do it they're supposed to do, but let me tell you why I call Bios in this lawsuit, because that statement is false. 

15:44
A lot of people go to Panera bread just because of the charge lemonade. There is a big sign that hangs on every pump. There's three of them, three different flavors. I believe that hangs on every one of those pumps that says that it has a ton of caffeine in it. There's even paper behind it that says there is a ton of caffeine in it. There is nobody that's ever been to Panera bread that's ever had the charge lemonade that can see and tell me I did not know it had all this caffeine in it. It is well advertised but now their lawyer is going up to Panera bread saying, oh no, there wasn't enough signage, this didn't happen. She didn't know that it was charged lemonade and she drunk it and she died. I'm sorry she passed. 

16:34
Here's what I think happened. I think the girl did read that there was all this caffeine in there. Maybe she decided that she wanted to taste a little bit to see what it would do. Don't know, but there's no way anybody can say that there is a signs and here's why I say that in the article that was written about the lawsuit they was sure to point out and have pictures in the article that stated that Panera bread has signs all over the place that said there was caffeine in it. The young girl probably had a little bit more irritation with the heart. I know I have a heart condition, I've checked it all the time. Maybe something else irritated that day. Maybe that little bit of caffeine or how much she drunk from the Panera bread Lemonade that day kind of pushed that over. I don't believe Panera bread is liable for that death. Same with the Six Flags case, which I'm glad I have not seen a suit. I don't think there ever was one. 

17:36
This is back in 2008, because Six Flags did what they were supposed to do. There were signs all over the fence. Signs actually increased in danger levels the closer you got. One sign said danger to all customers keep out. Another sign says extreme danger, do not come over here. So when you get to from the business dangerous to the customer to extreme and he had to go about through both of those fences for that you already should know that, whatever extreme danger is over there, you may not come out of the other end of that. Okay. Now, because of that, though, six Flags has now stepped in their game even further. So they've added more signs to the fences to say hey, this is Daniel, come over here. And now they've added barbed wire fences. To some of the fences, and I think the closer ones to the roller coaster, they've added barbed wire. So now, unless you want to cut yourself up, you're not going to get over there. 

18:47
He was 17, old enough to be out there on his own. I get that. But I think that sometimes, as parents too, we have to make sure that we keep an eye on our kids or to make sure what they're going to do. I have a younger venture like that myself. Jacob will go take off and climb something in a minute, and then he'll look at us and go well, how come I can't climb over there? And I'm like don't you see the sign there that says you shouldn't be doing this, you can't go doing that? But everybody was having a good time with the church. They were way back under the park and these students about themselves. It ended up deciding that they were going to go ahead and jump this fence. 

19:23
Now I will be remiss not to point out that this is not the first incident that happened with this particular roller coaster, because yet there was another incident that took place. On May 26, 2002, a 58 year old park employee working in the roller coasters restricted area at Six Flags over Georgia, was killed after being struck in the head by the dangling leg of a 14 year old girl riding in the front. The girl was hospitalized with the leg injury, but she did survive. Now, maybe in this case, if I was this man's family, maybe I would have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Six Flags. Let me tell you why. Where the difference is he is a park employee who was working in the roller coasters restricted area. This means that Six Flags is responsible for his safety and from what I know from some people that worked at parks before like this that I was friends with, they said hey, we're going to go to these restricted areas, especially if it's anything to do with underneath the ride or around the ride or whatever. We have to let them know that this was going on so that they don't run the ride. So I'm assuming that this employee did what he's opposed to went and told whoever's in charge hey, man, got going here, got clean, whatever the case is and either somebody didn't pay attention to, somebody forgot they let this roller coaster, the Batman, loose, he gets kicked by, a 14 year old girl dies and she goes to the hospital. That, I think, is negligence on Six Flags part. They probably should be sued for that and if they didn't, they should have paid. We don't know because there's not a lot written about that. That's the end of that. That's what happened on this also very dangerous ride. 

21:27
So what do you guys think? I like to bring these kind of cases to you just because it's a cautionary tale, a tale that maybe we should keep a better eye on our children, no matter how old they are, when they go with us, because we don't know what shenanigans they can get into these parts. People are huge, they're big. You can get lost, your kids can get lost. When we go to Knott's Berry Farm, my daughter and my son will go off. She's 21 now. She can do that. We are in constant communication. What do you want to meet? Be here, text me if anything goes wrong. If Jacob will do something that you think is not something he should do and he ain't listening, let me know. 

22:09
Also, young people are now creating havoc in these parks, unfortunately, which is why we have to make sure that we are governing our kids and, if we're letting them go to these parks on their own, make sure that we're telling them hey, you can't go into these parks and cause big problems. So I'll tell you this. This is about the park I'll go to and why I say that Knott's Berry Farm. If you've never been there, it is a great place to go. They love kids up in there. 

22:42
They used to never have any policies. It was just a free flowing park. You just walked in. There it is. And when I said by no policies, they didn't have any policies per se of how old you had to be to come in there. I think you had to be at least 13 and over, and then they would just let you come into the park by yourself. You want to walk around? Well, that's until last year, when young people started acting a complete fool. They were cutting school to go to Knott's Berry Farm. While they were there, they were starting fights with not only other children but also with staff members. They were reports of them coming on with alcohol. I mean, it was a mess. 

23:23
So then, all of a sudden, we get in the mail one day hey, there's going to be a change to Knott's Berry Farm's code of conduct and they added a chaperone policy. Now let me show you how one bad apple spores a whole bunch, because a lot of parents was able to take their children out to Knott's Berry Farm say go ahead and go, we'll come back and get you in a few hours. But that is no longer the case because of the issues that took place. So, as of Saturday, april 22nd of 2023, because Knott's Berry Farm they have a commitment to make sure everybody's safe. They implemented a chaperone policy and now that policy all guests ages 15 years old or younger has to be accompanied by a chaperone who is at least 21 years old in order to be admitted to or remain in the park after 4 pm, local time, until the time they're closed I believe it was around six on certain days and nine on others. 

24:29
Why 4 pm? Because what I understand this is when a lot of people got rowdy. So even though these kids was cutting school, getting up in the park and doing things, a lot of people got more rowdy at four o'clock in the afternoon. For whatever reason that is, and to make sure that you are a rightful chaperone meaning that you are the rightful age to be chaperoning they will ask you for an ID to prove that you are of age to be with that kid. If you can't prove that, you got to go. Now, if you are a kid that is 16 years of age or older, they're going to ask you to present a valid government issued ID and with that they'll go ahead and let you stay in the park, because the chaperone rule only applies to if you're 15 years or older. But they're going to tell you, hey, if you're 15 years old or younger and you are found in this park and you are unaccompanied, we're just going to ask you to politely leave because you can't be here anymore. And that is to stop a lot of these fights. 

25:32
Maybe to stop a lot of these things that happen to Isaiah, maybe to stop parents also from using the parks as babysitting ground, because, let's face it, a lot of parents will drop their kids off, won't check them at all, and they'll be there six, seven, eight, nine hours and then they'll show back up and find out all kinds of stuff happened. I can't do that. If I'm going to drop you off, I'm like, hey, you got to at least be in touch with me once every hour and if anything goes on sooner than that, I need to know where you guys are, if you guys are safe, if there's any incidents, whatever the case is. So I'm in the know. But usually my family and I, we go together, but now there would be times where my daughter would probably want to go by herself with her brother, and that's going to be fine to do so. So in closing, guys, just make sure we keep our eyes on our children, make sure that we tell them the proper etiquette, make sure that we tell them that they should not be climbing fences if they are marked. 

26:28
I hope I say a Ferguson resting piece. My condolences does go out to his family. I know it's got to be tough. I can't say I know what they're feeling because I don't, but I did read that every day that he has been gone they miss him and I'm sure that they do. Folks, this was senseless. This is something that could have been avoided. So please make sure we tell our young people, even if you are curious about whatever it is across the sea, across the water, across some fences, whatever it is, maybe it's in your best interest to just leave things alone and let it be. 

27:13
All right, guys, I thank you for tuning in for this one. I hope that you guys got some information out here that you can use, which is always my goal when I do these cases that a lot of people don't know anything about. All right, so, coming at you next week, the author I have for you has done extensive studying into Charles Dickens. You do wanna tune in because she's gonna tell you maybe some things about Charles Dickens you did know, including that this story was actually written from a Christian perspective and where all of those things are. And, yes, that story is a Christmas Carol. Her name is the Reverend, cheryl Kincaid. I got a lot of knowledge just from doing this interview with her and I hope that you guys will tune in and maybe learn something new and then the following week. 

28:17
You're extraordinary person. You definitely do not want to miss Parents. This is one that you should bring your kids and sit around and listen to this one together, because he's gonna break down for us, but it was like to have one of the most devastating losses in his life. His granddaughter ends up committing suicide at 15 years old. This is definitely an interview that you do not want to miss with the great Colin Hughes. All right, once again, I thank you folks for tuning in. 

28:55
I know you have many choices In True Crime and Interview podcast. I'm just happy and grateful that you've chosen me to be one of them. I will also remind you once again that in September 21st and 22nd, ladonahunfer and I will be at CrimeCon in London. If you're gonna be in that area, or you just follow CrimeCon and go wherever it goes, please make sure you come and say hi to us, we will be there to shake your hand, take a photo, talk to you about the podcast that we run, get some ideas. If you're going to go, you can get a 10% discount by using the passcode extinguish when you go and check out. All right, so I hope that you guys are being safe out there, always being good to yourself and to each other, and always remember, always stay humble. An act of kindness can make someone's day. A little love and compassion can go a long way, and remember that there is an extraordinary person in all of us. I'll catch you on the next one. 

30:07 - Jaquie (Announcement)
["the Next One"]. Don't forget to rate, comment and subscribe. Join us on social media. One link to the link tree has it all. Feel free to drop us a line at truecrimeandauthors at gmailcom. Cover art and logo designed by Arslet Sound, mixing and editing by David McClam. Intro script by Sophie Wilde and David McClam. Theme music, legendary by New Alchemist. Introduction and ending credits by Jackie Voice. See you next time on True Crime. Authors and Extraordinary People.