Tyre Sampson’s Mother Says She Doesn’t Know Woman Who Identified Herself As The Teen’s Cousin
Shay Johnson, a woman who identified herself as Tyre Sampson’s cousin to numerous media outlets and during a prayer vigil on Monday over the teen’s death (March 28), is apparently not related to Sampson, according to his mother.
Sampson passed away after falling from a drop tower at ICON Park last week. According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Johnson told the media that she spoke to Tyre before he boarded the Orlando attraction on March 24 and claimed the teen told her that he had been turned away from other nearby attractions that evening because of his size.
Tyre’s mother, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, “told [detectives] she does not know who Shay Johnson is,” and that OCSO detectives “looked into” Johnson but there was no report produced and no arrest is pending.
“At this point, they have no evidence of a crime,” spokesperson Michelle Guido said in an email to the newspaper on Thursday. Additionally, a cell phone number the woman gave to the Sentinel was not in service as of Thursday evening.
Attorneys representing Tyre’s family also told WFTV that none of his family members know Johnson either.
Sampson, on spring break from St. Louis, Mo. fell on March 24 from the Orlando FreeFall drop tower at ICON Park, which takes riders up and then drops them nearly 400 feet at speeds that reach more than 75 mph, CNN reported.
Civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Bob Hilliard say the ride’s operator was negligent in Tyre’s death.
