Inset: Kirk Foyle. Background: Surveillance video showing Kirk Foyle at the Texas BBQ restaurant when a pecan tree allegedly fell and crushed him (The Law Office of Shawn C. Brown).
A tragic incident unfolded at a Texas barbecue restaurant when a father of four lost his life after being “fatally crushed” by a pecan tree. The tree, described as diseased and neglected, reportedly went unmaintained by staff at two neighboring businesses. The lawsuit claims these businesses failed in their duty to either care for the tree or warn the public about the potential danger.
The legal petition, filed by the family of Kirk Foyle, argues that those responsible “were aware, or should have been aware through reasonable diligence,” of the tree’s hazardous state. It charges that they neglected to inspect, maintain, remove, or provide warnings regarding the compromised nature of the tree.
According to the petition, the 64-year-old Foyle died on May 20 due to injuries sustained at Green Mesquite BBQ in Austin. The fatal incident occurred as Foyle dined outside on the patio the previous evening when the tree unexpectedly fell, according to his family.
The tree, ominously dubbed a “Widow Maker,” had not been pruned, inspected, or tended to by the restaurant’s staff or the neighboring business, Aspen Hatter. The legal documents assert that the tree was “situated on, or partially on, property owned and managed” by these businesses.
“Prior to May 19, 2026, the Widow Maker was in a dangerous, compromised, decayed, diseased, and/or structurally defective condition,” the petition says. “Upon information and belief, the Widow Maker’s dangerous condition was visible, apparent, or discoverable upon reasonable inspection, and had existed for a sufficient period of time that defendants knew or, in the exercise of ordinary care, should have known of its condition.”
According to Foyle’s family, he was on the outdoor patio when the tree “suddenly and violently broke at or near its base and fell” while storms were moving through the area. “Mr. Foyle’s cause of death was blunt trauma sustained as a result of being ‘struck by a falling tree branch,’ according to the Travis County Deputy Medical Examiner,” the family’s petition says.
Green Mesquite has alleged that the tree was struck by lightning that night. Foyle’s family and their attorneys say this never happened, and instead blame his “tragic and preventable death” on the lack of upkeep.
“You have to be a responsible landowner,” attorney Shawn Brown told local ABC affiliate KVUE. “You need to make sure that if you have a tree on your property, that if it is sick, that you remove it, that you take care of it so that situations like this do not happen.”
Brown says Foyle had “four beautiful kids” who lost their father through “no fault of his own,” KVUE reports. “People need to be held responsible,” he told the station.
The family’s legal petition, which was filed last week, says Green Mesquite and Aspen Hatter failed to inspect the tree for “signs of disease, decay, structural weakness, or instability.” The businesses also allegedly failed to “engage qualified arborists or tree care professionals to assess the condition” of the tree.
Additionally, the businesses failed to warn patrons, guests and neighboring businesses of the “dangerous condition” of the tree; failed to take “adequate precautions” to prevent the tree from falling onto adjacent occupied areas; and failed to erect barriers, fencing, or other protective measures near the tree.
Foyle’s family is seeking at least $1 million in damages.
“I was shocked, I couldn’t believe it,” Green Mesquite co-owner Rick Garcia told KVUE in May after Foyle’s death. “We’re all under trees all the time and hanging out, and you just never think that something like that could happen.”
Brown told the Austin American-Statesman, “If they’re going to have an outdoor patio that is bringing crowds of people below these beautiful trees, they need to make sure that they maintain them on a regular basis.”
Both Aspen Hatter and Green Mesquite declined to comment on the lawsuit when reached by the American-Statesman.