Family members of a young woman decapitated by a gate during a visit to Arches National Park in Utah were awarded over $10.5 million by a federal judge on Friday. Esther Nakajjigo, 25, was in a car with her husband, Ludo Michaud, in June 2020 when a metal gate swung into their vehicle as they were exiting a parking lot. Michaud, who was in the driver’s seat, escaped physically uninjured, but court documents noted that he was left with severe emotional distress, having been seated next to his wife as she died. “What remained of her in the front seat and floor of the car was gruesome and overwhelmingly shocking,” U.S. District Judge Bruce Jenkins stated. A claim filed in October 2020 alleged Nakajjigo’s death could have been avoided if park staff had secured the gate by installing it correctly or fitting it with a padlock.
