Jun 19, 2009 7:29 am US/Central
Gorilla Attack Victims Say $$$ Won't Bring Closure
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
Friday, the Dallas City Council is expected to approve a financial settlement with two families who were attacked during a gorilla escape in 2004. Two families will share $500,000 after suffering injuries when they were attacked by a 300-pound gorilla inside the Dallas Zoo.
More than five years later and 9-year-old Rivers Heard still has scars on his head and chest.
Keisha Heard is Rivers' Mother. "I thought he was going to kill us because he was really angry,"she said.
Rivers and his mother Keisha Heard were attacked by a gorilla named Jabari on March 18, 2004. The gorilla escaped from an exhibit inside the Dallas Zoo.
"The gorilla came out of nowhere. It was running full-speed. Rivers was standing near the door. The next thing I know, the gorilla picks him up like a piece of paper and puts him in his mouth," Keisha recalls.
Rivers was three-years-old at the time. Keisha was also bitten by the 300 pound gorilla. When Jabari's 40-minute rampage was over, two children and two adults were injured. The gorilla was finally shot and killed inside the zoo grounds. To this day, Keisha refuses to let her son have anything to do with gorillas.
"One day, I wanted to see this movie and my mom didn't want me to see it because it involves a gorilla," Rivers said.
Keisha said the settlement helps, but it will never bring closure."It will never be over because the memories will always be there."
The law places caps on settlements reached with local municipalities. The Dallas City Council is expected to approve the $500,000 settlement on June 17.
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