Teen girl’s drowning at amusement park ruled accidental
The drowning death of a 14-year-old girl at Middletown’s Land of Illusion has been ruled accidental, the Montgomery County Coroner ruled Wednesday.
Mykiara Jones died July 20 at the park’s Aqua Adventure attraction.
Her death has drawn attention from state legislators and officials who said that attraction fell into a loophole in the law, meaning it was unregulated in terms of required safety measures.
An independent investigator hired by Land of Illusion also found that the park “acted swiftly” and followed safety measures during the drowning death of a teenager in the park.
The investigator also made several recommendations, including the installation of side-scanning sonar technology, to improve the park’s response to emergencies..
In an open letter, Land of Illusion manager Ryan Perry wrote safety is a priority at the attraction and said training and daily equipment checks are mandatory at the park. The Butler County General Health District also met with park officials after the death to review their procedures and protocols and made several recommendations.
“Not only does our park satisfy all applicable regulations, we go above and beyond because of our commitment to safety,” Perry wrote. “While we’ve been cooperating with state and local officials since the incident, out of respect for the family we have not communicated about specific details of the July 20 tragedy.”