Kansas Water Park Slide Decapitation: Designer Arrested In Texas

KANSAS CITY, KS — One of the designers of a massive water park slide in Kansas City, Kansas, where a 10-year-old boy was decapitated two years ago has been arrested in Texas. John Timothy Schooley was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on Monday. He had arrived on a flight from China, said Trent Touchstone, chief deputy with the Marshals Service in Dallas.

Schooley, 72, was held without bond at the Dallas County jail after he was arraigned on charges including second-degree murder, said county sheriff's spokesman Raul Reyna.

A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday on a possible extradition to Kansas next week, Reyna said. He could face up to 41 years in prison if convicted.

A Houston attorney for Schooley, Kit Yam, didn't immediately return a phone message seeking comment.

Caleb Schwab was killed on the 17-story Verruckt in 2016 when the raft he was riding went airborne and hit an overhead loop.

A grand jury in Kansas last week indicted Schooley and Jeffrey Henry , a co-owner of Texas-based Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Resorts. The indictment accuses Henry of making a "spur of the moment" decision to build the Verruckt ride — touted as the world's tallest water slide — and that he and Schooley lacked technical or engineering expertise in amusement park rides. A former operations director for Schlitterbahn also has been charged.

Schooley and Henry, 62, also were charged with 17 other felonies, including aggravated battery and aggravated endangerment of a child counts tied to injuries that other riders sustained on the giant slide.

Henry was arrested last week in South Texas and Cameron County sheriff's Chief Deputy Gus Reyna Jr. said he was extradited to Kansas on Tuesday. An attorney in Texas for Henry didn't immediately reply to phone messages seeking comment.

Schlitterbahn spokeswoman Winter Prosapio said in a statement last week that the indictment "is filled with information that we fully dispute." She didn't immediately respond to a message seeking fresh comment early Tuesday.

The indictment alleges the ride violated "nearly all aspects" of longstanding standards established by the American Society for Testing and Materials.

"In fact, the design and operation of the Verruckt complied with few, if any, of the industry safety standard," the indictment said.

Photo credit: By DAVID WARREN , Associated Press

AP writer Heather Hollingsworth contributed to this report from Kansas City, Missouri.

Photos credit: Dallas County Sheriff's Department; Charlie Riedel/Associated Press