SHREVEPORT, LA (KSLA) -
A lawsuit has been filed by the family of SJ Lewis, the Coushatta boy severely injured on a kiddie ride at the State Fair of Louisiana in November.
The suit was filed in Caddo District Court on November 4, 2011, two days after the four-year-old began trapped in the Twin-Ring Demolition Derby Ride in the Kiddie Korral section of the fairgrounds.
Little SJ was trapped between a car and a rotating platform in the children's amusement ride, and stopped breathing long enough to cause brain damage. Rescuers were forced to use the "jaws of life" to cut the boy free.
The suit alleges negligence on the part of the State Fair of Louisiana, the ride operator and the community action agency responsible for bringing the group of children from the head-start program in Coushatta to the fair on that day.
[Click here to view the lawsuit (PDF)]
In the weeks following the accident, state investigators concluded that one of SJ's Red River Head Start classmates started the ride, pinning him underneath. But those investigators also fault the ride operator. They found that he didn't follow procedure, which was to power the ride down and remove the key while he got the kids off the ride.
The suit claims grievous injuries suffered by SJ, extreme physical and emotional pain, and demands medical expenses and damages for emotional anguish, permanent disability, loss of enjoyment of life and loss of economic opportunity.
State Fair of Louisiana General Manager Chris Giordano says his office was served with the papers for the lawsuit the day after the fair closed, adding that the lawsuit was expected.
Because the litigation is pending, Giordano could offer no comment other than to say that "Myself and our organization, we maintain that it was a tragic incident and our thoughts, our feelings and our prayers are with Sheldon and his family."
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Sheldon "SJ" Lewis before the tragic accident
"SJ" today
The Twin-Ring Demolition Derby ride operated in the Kiddie Lane portion of the 105th State Fair of Louisiana
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