- Jacob Parker, a recent graduate of the University of California, has become the fourteenth person to fall to his death over a perilous Santa Barbara cliff
- The 23-year-old tripped over a concrete balcony fence at an Isla Vista party and fell fifty feet to his death
- Parker’s parents believe their son’s death was preventable and have filled a civil lawsuit and are pushing for criminal charges
A young college graduate has become the fourteenth person to fall to his death over a perilous Santa Barbara cliff.
Jacob Parker, a recent graduate of the University of California, tripped over a concrete balcony fence and fell fifty feet to his death at the bottom of Isla Vista’s cliffs.
The 23-year-old become the fourteenth person to do so in the last thirty years, Fox News reported.
The tragedy occurred two weeks ago when Parker was celebrating at a party on Del Playa Drive, a popular area for student housing, at a house that backs up onto the cliffs.
Parker was allegedly trying to make his way through a crowd on a concrete balcony overlooking the sea, his family told Fox News.
Jacob Parker, (pictured) a recent graduate of the University of California , tripped over a concrete balcony fence and fell fifty feet to his death at the bottom of Isla Vista’s cliffs
A young college graduate has become the fourteenth person to fall to his death over a perilous Santa Barbara cliff
The tragedy occurred two weeks ago when the student was celebrating at a party on Del Playa Drive
However, unable to make his way through to a gazebo Parker climbed over a 42-inch tall metal wire fence onto a 33-inch wide concrete ledge, bordered by a metal rail along the cliff’s edge.
As he tried to jump back over into the party area Parker tripped and fell to his death at the bottom of the cliffs.
‘He had so much potential. I was just looking forward to seeing what he would accomplish in life. This was just the beginning,’ Parker’s mother, Deborah, told Fox News.
Parker’s parents, Deborah and George, believe their son’s death was preventable.
The Parker’s argue that Santa Barbara’s November safety plan required all new fences to be six feet tall following a previous death of a University of Santa Barbara student last year.
The couple have filed a civil lawsuit against the city and pushing for criminal charges including involuntary manslaughter in an effort to seek justice for their son and prevent further accidents.
‘I’m heartbroken. I’m crushed,’ George Parker told Fox News.
‘I’m at the point where this is now my work. Not just getting enforcement, but I really want to push for criminal charges.’
Parker’s mother described her son as a young man with ‘so much potential’
Parker climbed over a 42-inch tall metal wire fence onto a 33-inch wide concrete ledge, bordered by a metal rail along the cliff’s edge
The student tragically fell fifty feet to his death over the Isla Vista cliff
Parker’s mother, Deborah (left), said she was ‘just looking forward to seeing what he would accomplish in life’
‘I don’t just want money,’ George explained, ‘I want people in jail.’
George called the fencing behind the Isla Vista waterfront properties as a ‘clear and present danger that has been ignored’ and called the cliffs a ‘serial killer.’
‘There is not an active criminal investigation,’ the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
However, ‘deputies did issue a citation on the day of the incident to the adult host of the party at the residence for a violation of 36-6 of the County code (public nuisance- see subsection c4)’ the statement added.
‘That report will be forwarded to the DA’s Office for review soon.’
‘These tragedies will continue until the county puts teeth in its enforcement of codes and standards for property owners who economically exploit students and have way too much power,’ Beth Krom, the mother of another UCSB student who died in 2009 wrote on Facebook.
Adding: ‘Life is cheap in Isla Vista. It breaks my heart to know that another family has been destroyed.’
