In October 1990, 17-year-old Brian Jewell was performing in a pre-Halloween hayride at the Lakewood Riding Center in New Jersey as a hanging victim to scare passersby.
The stunt, where Brian usually stepped down from a platform, giving the illusion that he was hanging from a noose, had been performed safely on previous nights and even on the fatal morning of his demise.
During one of the evening rides, something went terribly wrong.
When the wagon, carrying about 40 people attending the exhibit, passed by and Brian failed to deliver his usual lines, the driver stopped to check, only to find the teen hanging lifeless, his feet barely touching the ground.
The Ocean County prosecutor’s office ruled the incident accidental, noting that the rope used was only meant to be a prop and shouldn’t have tightened around his neck.
The hayride’s operators offered no comment, and an autopsy later confirmed there were no signs of foul play.
“That’s disappointing and it’s disgusting,” one of his classmates, Patricia Seaman, told reporters during a candlelight vigil held in Brian’s memory.
The stunt, where Brian usually stepped down from a platform, giving the illusion that he was hanging from a noose, had been performed safely on previous nights and even on the fatal morning of his demise.
During one of the evening rides, something went terribly wrong.
When the wagon, carrying about 40 people attending the exhibit, passed by and Brian failed to deliver his usual lines, the driver stopped to check, only to find the teen hanging lifeless, his feet barely touching the ground.
The Ocean County prosecutor’s office ruled the incident accidental, noting that the rope used was only meant to be a prop and shouldn’t have tightened around his neck.
The hayride’s operators offered no comment, and an autopsy later confirmed there were no signs of foul play.
“That’s disappointing and it’s disgusting,” one of his classmates, Patricia Seaman, told reporters during a candlelight vigil held in Brian’s memory.