Grieving family gets $19m payout after watching son, 8, get crushed to death by tree that summer camp staff 'knew was ready to fall'

By WILL POTTER, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 17:34, 3 July 2026 | Updated: 17:50, 3 July 2026 The grieving family of an eight-year-old boy who was crushed to death by a falling tree have been awarded a total of $19 million over the tragedy.  The settlement was reached almost a year after Lamar McGlothurn was killed at the King Gillette Ranch in Los Angeles on July 9, 2025, by an old oak tree that his parents said was 'just waiting to fall.'  They alleged that officials with the Mountain Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA), which manages the ranch, ignored repeated warnings that the tree was dangerously close to falling.  They said in their settled lawsuit that the tree showed obvious signs of decay, and another branch had fallen from the same tree just days earlier. Insurers for the MRCA contributed $16 million to the payout to McGlothurn's family, with an additional $3 million paid by insurers for Camp Wildcraft, which the boy was attending at the ranch, and a local landscaping company.  The eight-year-old's horrific death unfolded in front of his family at the ranch, when a branch broke from the tree and crushed a group of people who gathered under the oak.  Lamar was fatally injured by the tree branch, and four other people, including two children and two adults, were also hospitalized.  The boy's parents had just arrived at the camp to pick up their son when they witnessed the tree falling, and they raced to lift the branch off him before emergency responders arrived, their attorney told CBS Los Angeles.  The family of Lamar McGlothurn, 8, have been awarded a total of $19 million as they settled a lawsuit over the boy's death, almost a year after he was killed by a falling tree branch  Lamar was killed at the King Gillette Ranch in Los Angeles on July 9, 2025, by an old oak tree that his parents said was 'just waiting to fall' (seen in an image from their lawsuit)  McGlothurn's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in the months after he was killed on the ranch, naming the MRCA, Camp Wildcraft, and a local landscaping company as allegedly responsible.  In their complaint, they said the obvious issues with the tree were ignored, even as employees at the camp raised their fears that it could fall at any moment.  Just days before Lamar was killed, they said a branch on the same tree snapped and fell, leading to internal discussions among the staff about how to handle it.  According to the family's complaint, when the previous branch fell, an MRCA division chief sent an email noting, 'Wow, that was a massive branch.' 'Thank god that no one was seriously hurt or killed. Thank you so much for taking care of this. I would not have been able to sleep at night knowing that branch was just waiting to fall,' the email allegedly read.   The family said those warnings never led to any action, alleging that Lamar's death would have been easily avoided if they had closed off the area under the tree.  Instead, camp counselors gathered the children under the tree as they ended their time at the camp, and the tree fell at the same time parents arrived to pick up their kids.  McGlothurn's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in the months after he was killed, accusing the ranch, the campsite and a landscaping company of ignoring warnings that the tree was ready to fall at any moment  Lamar's parents had just arrived at the ranch to pick him up when they witnessed the tree branch crush him  In images from the family's lawsuit (pictured), the tree was seen eroded through its core and severely weakened  The parents' lawyer, Robert Glassman, said in the complaint that staff 'inexplicably directed groups of young children to play, paint and rest directly under the tree.'  'That is exactly what Lamar was doing when he was tragically killed by the falling branch,' Glassman said.  Following the settlement, Dash Stolarz, spokesperson for the MRCA, said the company 'cannot fathom the immense loss and tremendous pain the family of Lamar McGlothurn has endured from Lamar's tragic death.'  'We can only hope that this settlement will, in some small way, bring solace and comfort to the McGlothurn family in the days and years ahead.' Details of the settlement were first reported by SFGate, which noted that smaller payments of $100,000 will be paid to the family by landscaping company, Gomez Landscape & Tree Care.  In a statement to the outlet, Glassman said: 'When dangerous conditions exist on public property, families deserve answers, transparency, and action.' 'We were honored to stand beside this family and fight for accountability, and we hope this case leads to safer parks and prevents another family from suffering the same unimaginable loss,' Glassman said.  The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? 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