Texas police identify girl killed after being ejected from carnival ride
EL PASO, Texas -- A teenage girl who was killed when she was ejected from a whirling ride at an El Paso church carnival has been identified by police.
El Paso police on Monday identified the 16-year-old girl as Samantha Aguilar. Police say Aguilar and two 17-year-old girls were at a parking lot carnival at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church when they were hurled from a ride called "Sizzler" Friday evening.
Aguilar died later at Del Sol Medical Center. One of the 17-year-olds was taken to a hospital with injuries not thought to be life-threatening. The third teen wasn't ejected or injured. They weren't identified.
The cause of the incident hasn't been determined. Police say that among the things detectives are looking into is whether regulations were met by the ride operator and vendor.
"Sizzler" is a ride that whirls riders around a center pivot and also spins them in their seats.
China Arevalo was selling snacks at a concessions booth when she heard a disturbance nearby. She heard that someone had fallen from one of the carnival rides, she said.
"There was a girl on the ground, and they were doing CPR to revive her" and the girl appeared to have regained consciousness, Arevalo told the El Paso Times. She noticed a large pool of blood on the ground from an injury to the back of the girl's head, she said.
On Monday, students at Hanks High School took part in a balloon release ceremony in memory of Aguilar, CBS affiliate KDBC reported.
Students were wiping away tears as they held pieces of paper that read, "Samantha forever in our hearts."
Freshman Jaya Edgarton knew Samantha only for a few months, but it was enough to leave a strong impression.
"She had a wonderful smile and she's just a wonderful person," Edgarton told KDBC. "I will no longer see her and also I will never see that smile again."
Her friend, Hanks sophomore Ann Rangel, said she's known Samantha since middle school.
"She was so close to perfect it scared me. She was incredible," Rangel said to KDBC. "She always encouraged others to be happy with who they were and she wanted everyone to just accept themselves. She never let anybody go a day without smiling at least once."
School leaders said Samantha was a model student and was in the top 10 percent of her clas