Judge Dismisses Charges Over Boy’s Death on Waterslide

Left: Riders go down the water slide called "Verruckt." Right: Caleb Schwab, shown here in a June 2016 photo, was killed while riding the Verruckt water slide in Aug. 2016. David Strickland—Charlie Riedel/AP

KANSAS CITY, Kanas—A judge dismissed criminal charges on Friday, Feb. 22, against a Kansas water park owner and the designer of a 17-story slide on which a 10-year-old boy was decapitated in 2016.

Wyandotte County Judge Robert Burns cited improper evidence in dropping second-degree murder charges against Schlitterbahn owner Jeff Henry, designer John Schooley, and general contractor Henry and Sons Construction Co. The judge also dismissed an involuntary manslaughter charge against operations manager Tyler Miles, The Kansas City Star reported.