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SF Tiger Attack Victim's Family Settles Lawsuit

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Feb 13, 2009 9:58 pm US/Pacific

SF Tiger Attack Victim's Family Settles Lawsuit

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / AP) ― The parents of a 17-year-old boy killed by an escaped tiger at the San Francisco Zoo have reached a settlement in their wrongful death lawsuit, their lawyer said Friday.

Financial terms of the payment to the San Jose family were undisclosed, but attorney Michael Cardoza said the zoo agreed to erect and maintain a bench in memory of Carlos Sousa Jr. as part of the settlement.

The memorial bench will bear an etched image of Carlos Sousa and the dates of his birth and death, Cardoza said. It has not been determined where it would be placed at the zoo.

The San Francisco Zoological Society's insurance carrier will pay the entire settlement and no public funds will be used to close the claim, Cardoza said. The dead teenager's parents, Carlos and Marilza Sousa, asked for privacy and for the amount of the settlement to remain confidential, he added.

"It's not a time they are happy about, but they are happy in the sense that it is over," he said.

A call to a zoo spokeswoman seeking comment was not immediately returned Friday.

Sousa was mauled to death on Christmas Day 2007 when a Siberian tiger escaped its enclosure and attacked the San Jose teen and two of his friends.

The Sousas' lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court claimed the enclosure's wall was lower than the recommended national standard and alleged that zoo officials ignored employees' warnings that the wall was not tall enough.

The survivors, Kulbir and Paul Dhaliwal, have sued in federal court over the attack. The brothers' lawsuit names the San Francisco Police Department, the zoo and a public relations firm hired by the zoo, claiming the zoo engaged in a smear campaign against them.

San Francisco police spent more than a month investigating the maulings while weighing whether to seek criminal charges against the Dhaliwals. The lead investigator said the tiger "may have been taunted/agitated by its eventual victims," but the department suspended its investigation without recommending any charges.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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