Jury awards Lake Worth family $200 million

DOLLARS. THAT’S HOW MUCH A JURY IN GEORGIA HAS AWAEDRD A LAKE WORTH FAMILY AFTER A SEVEN YEAR OLD BOY WAS KILLED IN A BOATING ACCIDENT. RYAN BATCHELDER WAS SWEPT OFF THE BOAT WHEN THE FRONT END DIPPED UNDER THE WATER. RYAN’S MOTHER SAYS SHE WAS STUNNED BY THE VERDICT BUT EMPHASIZED. ISTH WAS NEVER ABOUT MONEY ARI HEIGHT HAS HER STORY. RYAN BATCHELDER’S MOTHER DESCRIBES HIM AS JUST SUNSHINE VE FRYUNNY. EVERYONE LIKE TO BE AROUND HIM. HE JUST HAD CHARISMA. HE HAD THE FACTOR JULY OF 2014 THE BOY FROM LAKEOR WTH WAS WITH HIS ENTIRE FAMILY ON LAKE BURTON IN GEORGIA THE FRONT OF THE BOAT. HE WAS ON WENT UNDER WATER. RYAN WAS SWEPT AWAY IONT THE PROPELLER. HE WAS ONLY SEVEN YEARS OLD FOR MY OTHER SON WAS UP. HE’S NINE AT THE TIME. HE WAS SCREAMING MY BROTHER’S DAD MY BROTHER’S DEAD. AND THEN I LOOKED AT MY BROTHER. I WAS LIKE, NO THIS CAN’T BE THE BACHELORS FILED A CIVIL SUIT AGAINST THE BOAT COMNYPA MALIBU BOATS CLAIMING. THE BOAT WAS NOT PROPERLY WAITED CAUSING THE BOW TO DIP UNDERWATER. SATURDAYHE T JURY RETURNED ITS MONUMENTAL VERDICT SAYING MALIBU BOATS ISIA LBLE FOR RYAN’S DEATH. THEY AWARDED THE BATCH ELDERS 200IL MLION DOLLARS IN DAMAGES. I WAS VERY OVERWHELMED WHEN I HEARD THE VERDICT. IAS W JUST UNSTNED AND SHOCKED. I THINK THE JURY GOT UPSET ABOUT THAT. I THINK THE JURY’S VERDICT SINCE THE LOUD AND CLEAR MESSAGE TO MALIBU. ENTIRE INDUSYTR AND IT SPEAKS IN THE TERMS, TYHE UNDERSTAND DOLLARS AND CENTS MALIBU BOATS DID NOT RESPOND TO OUR REQUEST FOR COMMENT ONHE T VERDICT. BUT FOUNTAIN SAYS HE EXPECTS THEM TO APPEAL WHILE SHEAITS W RFO THE NEXT STEP MEG WILL CONTINUE TO WORK WITH LITTLE HUGS THE FOUATNDION. SHE CREATED IN RYAN’S HONOR THEY PROVIDE STUFFED ANIMALS FOR CHILDREN IN NEED. HE LOVES STUFFED ANIMALS. HE HAD HAD A WISH HE HAD TOLD ME TO BE SANTA CLAUS AND TO HAVE AN A MILLION STUFFED ANIMALS. MEG SSAY SHE CAN ONLY IMAGINE THE GOOD SHE COULD DO IF EVER SEES ANY OF THE MONEY FROM THE VERDICT, BUT SHE ALSO SAYS THIS CASE WAS NEREV ABOUT DOLLARS. IT’S ABOUT RESPONSIBILITY. THEY NEED TO DO BETTER. THEY NEED TO BEAF SER AND WE HOPE THAT MESSAGE WILL BE HEARD LOUD AND CLEAR AROUNDHE T WORLD. I WANT TO TAKE IT TO THE END. THEY NEED TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE AND

Ryan Batchelder’s mother describes him as “just sunshine.”“And very funny,” Meg Batchelder said. “Everyone liked to be around him. He just had charisma. He had the 'it' factor."In July of 2014, the entire Batchelder family traveled from their home in Lake Worth to Lake Burton in Georgia for a vacation. Much of the family was out on a boat with Ryan sitting near the front. The front of the boat dipped below the water, sweeping Ryan away and into the propeller.He was only 7 years old.“My other son, he was 9 at the time, he was screaming, ‘My brother’s dead! My brother’s dead!'” Batchelder said. “I was like, ‘No, this can’t be.’”In the news: One person dead, several injured following Highland Beach boat crashThe Batchelders filed a civil suit against the boat company, Malibu Boats, claiming the boat was not properly weighted, causing the bow to dip underwater. On Saturday, the jury in Georgia returned its monumental verdict, saying Malibu Boats is liable for Ryan’s death. They awarded the Batchelders $200 million in damages.“I was very overwhelmed when I heard the verdict,” Batchelder said. “I was just stunned and shocked.” Don Fountain, the Batchelder's attorney, added, “I think the jury’s verdict sends a loud and clear message to Malibu and the entire industry. And it speaks in the terms they understand: dollars and cents.”Crime headlines: Missing Indiana teen found in Palm Beach County Malibu Boats did not respond to a request for comment on the verdict, but Fountain said he expects them to appeal the verdict. While she’s waiting for the next step in this long process, Batchelder said she will continue to work with Little Hugs, the foundation she created in Ryan’s honor. The foundation provides stuffed animals for children in need.“He loved stuff animals,” Batchelder said of Ryan. “He had a wish, he had told me, to be Santa Claus and to have a million stuffed animals.”Batchelder said she can only imagine the good she could do if she ever saw any of the money from the verdict. But she also said this case was never about the dollars.Both she and Fountain agree this is about responsibility.“They need to do better. They need to be safer,” Fountain said of boat companies. “And we hope that message will be heard loud and clear around the world.”Batchedler added, “I want to take it to the end. They need to be held accountable, and we need to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”COVID-19 news: Here's how to prevent another 100,000 COVID-19 deaths by December, according to Fauci

LAKE WORTH, Fla. —

Ryan Batchelder’s mother describes him as “just sunshine.”

“And very funny,” Meg Batchelder said. “Everyone liked to be around him. He just had charisma. He had the 'it' factor."

In July of 2014, the entire Batchelder family traveled from their home in Lake Worth to Lake Burton in Georgia for a vacation.

Much of the family was out on a boat with Ryan sitting near the front. The front of the boat dipped below the water, sweeping Ryan away and into the propeller.

He was only 7 years old.

“My other son, he was 9 at the time, he was screaming, ‘My brother’s dead! My brother’s dead!'” Batchelder said. “I was like, ‘No, this can’t be.’”

In the news: One person dead, several injured following Highland Beach boat crash

The Batchelders filed a civil suit against the boat company, Malibu Boats, claiming the boat was not properly weighted, causing the bow to dip underwater.

On Saturday, the jury in Georgia returned its monumental verdict, saying Malibu Boats is liable for Ryan’s death. They awarded the Batchelders $200 million in damages.

“I was very overwhelmed when I heard the verdict,” Batchelder said. “I was just stunned and shocked.”

Don Fountain, the Batchelder's attorney, added, “I think the jury’s verdict sends a loud and clear message to Malibu and the entire industry. And it speaks in the terms they understand: dollars and cents.”

Crime headlines: Missing Indiana teen found in Palm Beach County

Malibu Boats did not respond to a request for comment on the verdict, but Fountain said he expects them to appeal the verdict.

While she’s waiting for the next step in this long process, Batchelder said she will continue to work with Little Hugs, the foundation she created in Ryan’s honor. The foundation provides stuffed animals for children in need.

“He loved stuff animals,” Batchelder said of Ryan. “He had a wish, he had told me, to be Santa Claus and to have a million stuffed animals.”

Batchelder said she can only imagine the good she could do if she ever saw any of the money from the verdict. But she also said this case was never about the dollars.

Both she and Fountain agree this is about responsibility.

“They need to do better. They need to be safer,” Fountain said of boat companies. “And we hope that message will be heard loud and clear around the world.”

Batchedler added, “I want to take it to the end. They need to be held accountable, and we need to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

COVID-19 news: Here's how to prevent another 100,000 COVID-19 deaths by December, according to Fauci

Jury awards Lake Worth family $200 million

GET LOCAL BREAKING NEWS ALERTS

Top Picks