Asia LeeShawn Ferguson Decapitated by Roller Coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia

A teenager was decapitated by a roller coaster after he hopped a pair of fences and entered a restricted area Saturday at Six Flags Over Georgia, authorities said.

Six Flags officials are uncertain why the unidentified 17-year-old from Columbia, S.C. scaled two six-foot fences and passed signs that said the restricted area was both off-limits and dangerous to visitors, spokeswoman Hela Sheth said in a news release.

Authorities were investigating reports from witnesses who said the teenager jumped the fences to retrieve a hat he lost while riding the Batman roller coaster, said Cobb County police Sgt. Dana Pierce. Police have declined to release the teenager's name until an autopsy is completed.

The "Batman the Ride" roller coaster will remain closed Sunday while authorities continue to investigate the teenager's death.

Police said the ride was going full-speed when the teen was struck. The ride's top speed is 50 mph, according to the park's Web site.

No one riding on the roller coaster was injured, Sheth said. The teen was with another boy who also entered the restricted area but was not injured, Pierce said.

The teen and his parents were at the park with a group from the Oakey Spring Baptist Church near Springfield, S.C., police said.

As LeeShawn Ferguson's friends try to cope with his death at Six Flags this weekend, the incident has other people asking if the park was at fault for his death.

Ferguson, 17, was killed at the park Sunday when he was struck by the Batman roller coaster after entering a restricted area.

Police in Georgia are ruling out reports from witnesses who say Ferguson had been trying to retrieve a hat.

Witnesses said Ferguson had lost the hat while riding the ride and that he hopped two fences and wandered into a restricted area to try to retrieve it.

The ride was closed out of respect for the family, and it remains closed pending an investigation.

Warning signs and fences were placed around the ride to prevent this sort of thing from happening, but Attorney Lamar Flatt thinks those weren't enough.

"Obviously the young man had exercised poor judgement here, but the question is, is Six Flags on notice that this sort of thing might occur?" Flatt said.

Flatt uses the death of maintenance worker in 2002 as an example. The worker was killed by the same ride.

"There had been a previous death on this ride," Flatt said. "The fences were only six feet tall. I'm not convinced they are off the hook."

While legal experts are weighing in, Ferguson's friends are trying to mourn the loss of the boy who loved to play basketball.

Geoffrey Hamrick was one of Ferguson's friends and remembers him as a person he knew would always lend a hand.

"He knew more about Algebra than I did," Hamrick said. "If I needed help, I could talk to him. He was sitting right there beside me."

Hamrick recently saw Ferguson and described him as happy. For Hamrick, learning about the death of his friend was hard to bear.

"I went in the bathroom and started crying," Hamrick said.

The gym is left without one of its favorite sons, and a boy without a friend.

Funeral services for the South Carolina teenager killed last week at Six Flags Over Georgia are scheduled for Saturday.

Asia L. Ferguson, 17, died after he and his 19-year-old cousin scaled two fences in restricted areas to get to Batman The Ride. Ferguson was decapitated when he was hit by the ride last Saturday.

The funeral will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at the teenager's church, Oakey Spring Baptist Church in Springfield, S.C. He will be buried in the church's cemetery.

There will be a viewing on Friday from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Bostick & Tompkins Funeral Home, 2930 Colonial Drive, Columbia, S.C.

Memorial donations may be made to the church, at Post Office Box 550, Springfield, S.C. 29146.

The roller coaster re-opened on Wednesday after state investigators went over the site.

Although fencing and signs around the park meet state standards, the state Labor Department is now requiring Six Flags to increase the number and size of warning signs.

The message on these signs should include the words "extreme danger" and must be erected within 10 days of the ride's reopening.

The park must also enhance its fencing within 120 days. Whether that means higher fences or a different type of barrier will be left up to the park, said Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond.

A popular Georgia roller coaster has reopened after a teenager who wandered into a restricted area was struck and killed over the weekend.

A spokeswoman for Six Flags Over Georgia says the Batman-themed ride reopened Wednesday morning after being inspected by the state Department of Labor.

Seventeen-year-old Asia LeeShawn Ferguson IV of Columbia, S.C., died Saturday after police said he hopped over two fences, walked into the path of the coaster and was decapitated.

The state agency has recommended that the park near Atlanta post more fences, signs and security to prevent another accident.