After nearly seven hours of deliberation on Friday night, the jury on the Glenwood Caverns wrongful death lawsuit returned with a verdict.  

The jury found the defendants Glenwood Caverns Holdings LLC, Soaring Eagle and the two individuals operating the ride liable in the death of 6-year-old Wongel Estifanos, who died at the adventure park in 2021. 

Soaring Eagle is the company that designed the ride.

Wongel, visiting with her family from Colorado Springs, died on Sept. 5, 2021, after not being securely strapped into the then named “Haunted Mine Drop,” a 110-foot freefall ride — later renamed the “Crystal Tower.” 

A state investigation later determined the 6-year-old was sitting on top of her seatbelt and was not secured when the ride began. The park was fined $68,000 by the state following the accident. 

In October 2021, the Estifanos family filed a wrongful death civil action lawsuit to the Denver County District Court, through the Dan Caplis Law Firm. They filed the lawsuit against the park’s parent company, Glenwood Caverns Holdings, seeking “economic and non economic” damages. 

The lawsuit, filed just a month after Wongel’s death, alleges that operators failed to fasten restraints, ignored warning lights, and overrode the system to launch the ride while 6-year-old Wongel remained unbuckled. 

The payment due to the family will be paid out in two portions in order to portray two different messages. 

The jury decided the defendants owed $82 million in non-economic damages to the Estifanos family and $123 million in punitive damages. 

Soaring Eagle and Glenwood Caverns Holdings LLC are responsible for nearly 98% of the $82 million in non-economic damages while the remainder falls onto Williams and Ochoa. 

Soaring Eagle and Glenwood Caverns Holdings LLC are on the hook for the $123 million in punitive damages.  

Punitive damages are added on top of the non-economic damages and are used when the compensation is deemed to be insufficient and are designed to punish those who were deemed to be negligent by the jury. They are also used as an example to others in a similar industry to dissuade similar incidents from occurring. 

Non-economic damages are used for retribution during subjective scenarios often including physical or mental pain.

The remainder of loose ends will continue to be tied up before the honorable Judge John Neiley retires on Oct. 7.