Family suing City of Everett after 13-year-old boy was killed crashing into braided cable
Sep 30, 2025, 7:17 AM
Exterior of Everett City Hall. (Photo courtesy of the City of Everett)
(Photo courtesy of the City of Everett)
The family of a 13-year-old boy who was killed after crashing into a metal cable while riding a scooter is now suing the City of Everett.
In the lawsuit, the family claims the city knew the braided cable the child struck was an illegally-installed danger. The lawsuit is also filing claims against the former property owner.
The 13-year-old boy was riding his electric scooter along 5th Avenue W. and tried to cut through a grassy lot to reach a nearby cul-de-sac. As he crossed the lot, the boy struck a braided metal cable that had been stretched between a fence post and a traffic bollard.
“He ran into it and it actually cut his vocal cords,” family friend Shantel Jenks told KIRO 7 in May. “He went back running as fast as he could without being able to catch any air, back to his friends, he wanted to get their attention to call 911 and then he ended up collapsing.”
The child succumbed to his injuries while at Harborview Medical Center on May 5, a few days after the initial crash.
While the City of Everett took down the cable, the city allegedly knew about the dangers of the cable for approximately a year, according to the lawsuit, when a truck hit the cable and brought it down while attempting to escape police.
“Despite having knowledge of the cable for over a year before the subject of the collision, defendant City of Everett did nothing to ensure that the hazard was removed and did nothing to ensure that the [property owners] abstained from placing such hazards on city property or public right of way,” the suit said, according to KIRO 7. “Defendant City of Everett had actual and/or constructive notice, that the aforesaid unreasonably dangerous cable had been placed across city property and the public right of way, and that the [property owners] were making use of city property in this way.”
The suit was filed on Sept. 25. The city and the former property owner have 20 days to respond.
Contributing: KIRO 7
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