Woman Who Witnessed Boy Killed By Falling Tree Near Calabasas Sues For Emotional Distress

SANTA MONICA, CA — A woman who says she witnessed the death of an 8- year-old boy after he was struck by a massive oak tree branch that fell on him at King Gillette Ranch is suing the Mountains and Recreation Conservation Authority and other entities.

Plaintiff Hayley Weiser alleges in her Santa Monica Superior Court lawsuit that she suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, panic attacks, anxiety, depression and physical injury from being grazed by the falling tree branch and from seeing the boy, Lamar McGlothurn, being hit by the falling limb.

Another branch had fallen from the tree a week before the July 9, 2025, tragedy, the suit states. The camp is located in the Santa Monica Mountains in an unincorporated area near Calabasas.

Tree management industry standards and common sense calls for the area surrounding a dangerous tree to be blocked off if the tree poses a threat of harming people, yet MRCA and its co-defendants did nothing to stop people from gathering under the tree, the suit alleges.

The branch that struck the boy and Weiser was a "preventable tree failure, not a spontaneous or unforeseeable act of nature," the suit states.

In separate litigation, Lamar's family reached a $19 million settlement in June with the MRCA and other entities.

The victims were gathered in the shade of the tree at the end of a hot day, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said at the time.

"They heard cracks and suddenly a very large branch fell on top of them," according to a department statement. "It is being estimated that it was a 25- to 30-foot branch from an oak tree."

An MRCA representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the Weiser suit, but the agency did issue a statement after the boy's death.

"We are devastated by the tragic loss of a young child at a summer camp at King Gillette Ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains," the statement said. "Words cannot express the depth of our sorrow. Our hearts are with the child's family, friends and all those affected by this unimaginable tragedy."

The summer camp was usually held in Pacific Palisades but was moved to the King Gillette Ranch because of the Palisades Fire, according to various reports.