What began as a quiet family lunch turned tragic for a Texas family when a deteriorating tree fell onto a restaurant patio, killing a beloved father.
The father of four died after being crushed by a decaying pecan tree while dining at one of his favorite barbecue restaurants.
Kirk Foyle, 64, was eating outside at Green Mesquite BBQ in Austin on May 19, 2026, when the old tree came down onto the patio and fatally struck him.
Describing Foyle as ‘a beautiful soul’ and a ‘wonderful dad’, to KVUE his bereaved family say the tragedy never should have happened.
In a recently filed lawsuit, his grieving family described the death as “entirely preventable,” alleging the tree had been rotting and structurally unsafe for years before it collapsed.
The complaint claims the pecan tree stretched over the restaurant’s outdoor seating area despite displaying visible signs of decay that should have led to action before the deadly incident.
Foyle was seated on the patio as storms moved through the area when the tree “suddenly and violently broke at or near its base and fell,” according to the lawsuit.
“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 states.
Kirk Foyle died during a family lunch after a diseased pecan tree collapsed and crushed him. Medical examiners determined his cause of death was blunt trauma.
Foyle’s family has filed a $1 million gross negligence lawsuit against the business and adjacent property owners for allegedly ignoring the tree’s decayed condition
Green Mesquite has so far denied responsibility and alleged that the tree was struck by lightning that night
The legal petition attributes seismic blame to owners of both the barbeque restaurant and a neighboring business Aspen Hatter and accuses the defendants of allowing the tree to deteriorate while continuing to invite patrons to dine beneath it without any warning of the potential risk.
According to the lawsuit, each business either owned or controlled portions of the property associated with the tree and had a duty to inspect, maintain or otherwise address the hazard before someone was seriously injured.
The family contends that reasonable inspections would have revealed the tree’s deteriorating condition and that appropriate maintenance or removal could have prevented Foyle’s death.
Instead, they alleged the negligent businesses failed to take reasonable safety measures despite what the lawsuit describes as an obvious and dangerous condition.
Foyle’s children are seeking damages through the wrongful death lawsuit, arguing the defendants’ alleged negligence directly resulted in his fatal injuries.
Shawn Brown, the attorney representing the family, described the incident as a preventable tragedy, rather than an unavoidable act of nature.
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Court filings alleged the defendants breached their duty to maintain reasonably safe premises for customers by allowing the deteriorating tree to remain standing over an occupied outdoor dining area.
Green Mesquite BBQ has long been a well-known Austin barbecue destination, with the fatal incident occurring during a stretch of severe weather that brought heavy rain and damaging winds to the region.
The family’s attorney described the death as ‘preventable’ rather then ‘unavoidable’ and stated ‘people need to be held responsible’
In the lawsuit, the tree that crushed Kirk Foyle is ominously referred to as the ‘Widow Maker’
The family seeks 1 million dollars in damages and questions a major property refinancing that occurred days after the incident
Green Mesquite has alleged that the tree was struck by lightning that night.
‘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.’
Garcia told the outlet that Foyle ‘loved the restaurant and would be there every night’ and added that ‘he was more then a regular, he was family’.
However, the lawsuit insisted the weather alone should not excuse liability because the defective tree was allegedly compromised well before the storms arrived.
The Foyle family is pursuing $1,000,000 in damages related to the death of their father, mental anguish, as well as legal costs.
The lawsuit also accused the property owners of taking out a $960,000 deed of trust used to refinance the property, just 7 days after Foyle’s death, a move which could impact the amount of funds available when judgement is rendered.
The defendants have not yet had the opportunity to respond to the allegations in court, and the claims contained in the lawsuit have not been proven.
As is standard in civil litigation, the allegations represent the family’s version of events and will ultimately be tested through the legal process.
The case now moves forward in Texas court, where the parties are expected to dispute whether the businesses knew, or reasonably should have known, that the aging pecan tree posed a danger to customers dining beneath its branches.
The Daily Mail has reached out to both Green Mesquite BBQ and Aspen Hatter for comment.
