Overview
- The children of 64-year-old Kirk Foyle filed a wrongful-death suit in Travis County naming Green Mesquite BBQ and nearby property owners after a pecan tree fell on him on May 19.
- The complaint calls the tree the 'Widowmaker' and says it stretched from 1410 Barton Springs Rd into the restaurant’s outdoor patio where Foyle was seated.
- Plaintiffs allege the tree showed visible disease, decay, or structural defects that defendants failed to inspect, maintain, remove, or warn customers about.
- Defendants have asserted the tree was struck by lightning the night it fell, a causal claim the family disputes and that the case will test through arborist and forensic weather evidence during discovery.
- The filing notes a $960,000 deed of trust recorded seven days after the death and seeks $1,000,000 in damages, a move the family says could affect funds available to satisfy any judgment.