Utah family suing school district after boy, 8, dies following playground slide fall

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Lawsuit filed against Utah school district after boy falls from playground slide, dies

Timothy and Kathryn Cunningham, the parents of Dallin Cunningham, filed a lawsuit in the Third Judicial District Court against the Tooele County School District, FOX 13 Utah reports. 

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The parents of an 8-year-old boy who died last year after falling from a playground slide are suing the school district.

Dallin Cunningham went down a “corkscrew-styled slide” at Rose Springs Elementary School in Stansbury Park, Utah, the morning of Feb. 6, 2023, when he flew off the slide and fell approximately seven feet, according to a complaint filed in the Third Judicial District Court obtained by FOX 13 Utah. 

“I’ve represented a lot of grieving parents and I would say that they are still very, very hurt,” Peter Mifflin, the family’s attorney, told FOX 13. “It’s still very, very difficult for them to talk about the details.”

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Dallin Cunningham, 8, is described in his obituary as a boy who loved board and card games. (Katrina Orr)

The lawsuit filed Monday on behalf of Timothy and Kathryn Cunningham accuses the Tooele County School District of negligence and wrongful death.

“The main thing that’s the problem is that the playground surface around the playground had not been appropriately maintained — it was rock solid,” Mifflin said. The lawsuit notes that police described the ground that day as a “frozen rock-hard surface[.]”

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Dallin Cunningham can be seen smiling with loved ones. (Katrina Orr)

Dallin Cunningham, right, died a day after falling from a playground slide on Feb. 7, 2023. (Katrina Orr)

The lawsuit accuses the playground’s mulch of being inadequate, stating that “the standard is 12 inches of fill material which is anticipated to compress to a minimum of 9 inches of fil.”

“It is unclear whether Tooele County ever installed adequate mulch to cushion the playground area,” the suit reads, claiming that the playground mulch was “approximately 1 inch in depth before being frozen solid underneath.”

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The “corkscrew-styled slide” Dallin Cunningham fell off of on Feb. 6, 2023. (File from KSTU FOX 13 Utah)

Dallin’s cause of death is noted in the suit as “blunt force trauma to the brain.” 

An online obituary calls him the “perfect, imperfect eight-year-old little boy” who would tease his three sisters, mom and dad. He liked to play board games, card games and soccer. He died the day after his fall, Feb. 7, 2023.

The school removed the slide Dallin Cunningham fell from, according to his parents’ attorney. (KSTU FOX 13 Utah)

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The plaintiffs say medical expenses as a result of the fall exceeded $90,000. The suit says the defendant “previously covered the Plaintiff’s burial expenses.”

Mifflin says the school district removed the slide Dallin fell off of from the playground. 

The Tooele County School District did not immediately respond to a Fox News request for comment, but they told FOX 13 they are unable to provide a comment due to the open and active litigation.