Boy, 5, Fatally Crushed In Atlanta Restaurant’s Rotating Wall, Family Sues Hotel

The family of a five-year-old boy who died after his skull was crushed by a rotating wall in a restaurant of a hotel has filed a lawsuit against the restaurant and hotel at which the accident occurred, accusing it of negligence in his death, reports said Saturday.

The attorney for the family Joseph Fried filed the lawsuit on behalf of Rebecca and Michael Holt of Charlotte, North Carolina. Their son Charlie Holt, 5, died from a head injury at the Sun Dial restaurant on April 14, located in the Westin Peachtree Hotel, which is owned by Marriott International, Inc.

Charlie was dining with his family when he became stuck between a wall and a rotating mechanism, which crushed his head and he died, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Holt’s parents alleged in the lawsuit the restaurant failed to prevent a "longstanding safety hazard" that led to their son's death. They also disputed claims by the police that the boy wandered away from his family.

The lawsuit also went on to describe the restaurant’s alleged negligence.

"The Sun Dial had no protections to stop children from getting close to the pinch point or to stop the rotation of the floor if a child became trapped in the pinch point," the lawsuit said.

The boy had been Atlanta with his parents when the accident occurred.

He was freed from the space but later died from his injuries at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta from a crushed skull.

In April, the Holt family had released a statement to the media confirming the child’s death.

“The family asks for prayers and privacy right now to come to terms with this tragedy,” the statement reads. “No words can express their loss. If you have a loved one, please give them an extra hug today.”

The Atlanta Police said in April that the child wandered away from his parents.

"The floor of the restaurant rotates clockwise to offer views of the city. The family was seated at a window table. At some point the child [a 5-year-old boy] wandered away from the table,” the police confirmed in a written statement to People magazine.

"Somehow, the child became lodged between the wall and a table as the dining area rotated. The rotating floor automatically shuts off. The Westin’s security staff and employees were able to dislodge the child. However, the child sustained critical injuries and later died at the hospital."

The lawsuit disagreed with the police statements. It claimed that as the family was leaving, with Charlie a few steps ahead, a booth rotating near a stationary wall blocked their path.

Charlie, a few steps ahead of his parents, "was too short to see past the booth and did not appreciate the danger until it was too late," and was trapped in the "pinch point" between booth and wall, according to the lawsuit.

"To Michael's and Rebecca's horror, the rotation did not automatically stop when Charlie got trapped," the lawsuit states, and there was no emergency button to stop it.

Rebecca Holt tried to pull her son free and Michael Holt "threw his body against the booth," but both actions were futile, it said.

"The family has filed this lawsuit to set the record straight about what happened and to make sure, to the best of their abilities, that no other family ever has to suffer the same fate," Attorney Joseph Fried, who filed the lawsuit, his statement said, New York Times reported.