Ronan Kerr died after a large portion of an Eucalyptus tree fell on him at a city park in La Jolla in June 2025.
SAN DIEGO — Dara Kerr clutches a white teddy bear as a tiny media player inside the stuffed animal emits the sounds of her 4-year-old son, Ronan’s heartbeat.
The beats were among the final pumps Ronan’s heart would take at Rady Children’s Hospital after a massive branch from an Eucalyptus tree fell at Villa La Jolla park, striking Ronan in the head in June 2025.
“He just felt like he was my best friend, and whatever love I gave him, he gave back, and we were just this perfect little pair, my boy,” said Ms. Kerr as she squirmed slightly in her seat to hold back her tears. “There is not a second that goes by that he doesn’t cross my mind, and I’m constantly having conversations with him. I talk to him all the time, and that’s what gets me through.”
Sitting next to his wife, Cathal Kerr, Ronan’s father, says Ronan’s death has broken him and broken his family.
“My love for him is just so immense, so immense still. I miss him every second of the day. There’s not really a second that goes by that he’s not on my mind,” Mr. Kerr said as tears dripped down his face. “Just not to have him and his companionship is something that my heart will never get over. He was such a big part of our family. We’re broken. We’re broken.”
A Tree Falls – June 29, 2025
Mr. Kerr took his two boys and a friend to their neighborhood park off Via Mallorca in La Jolla on June 29, 2025, a sunny Sunday afternoon.
As the kids played, Mr. Kerr heard a loud, unmistakable, and now unforgettable sound of a tree splitting. He ran and pushed his oldest son, Charlie, out of the way. He shoved the boys’ friend aside and darted towards Ronan. Mr. Kerr grabbed Ronan as a thick portion of the bole, or trunk, plummeted from over 30 feet in the air, slamming into Mr. Kerr and Ronan.
When Mr. Kerr gained consciousness, he found his 4-year-old son lying next to him. Ronan’s eyes were open, but he was unresponsive.
“It just happened so fast, you know, I got my hands on Ronan, and next thing I remember, I woke up on the ground,” Mr. Kerr said.
Other parkgoers called 911 for help.
Mr. Kerr immediately called his wife, telling her to come to the park.
When the ambulance arrived, paramedics forced a combative Mr. Kerr onto a gurney and strapped him down.
Mr. Kerr said he didn’t want to leave Ronan’s side.
“They had to force me into the ambulance. I did not want to go in there, but four or five firefighters literally had to pin me down and strap me down to the gurney, and put me in the ambulance.”
Paramedics took Mr. Kerr to Sharp Memorial for a traumatic brain injury, a fractured nose, bruised ribs, and an injury to his left leg.
Another ambulance transported Ronan and his mother to Rady Children’s.
“It was awful, it was awful,” Ms. Kerr said. “You just hold your breath the entire time.”
Mrs. Kerr remembers seeing a group of doctors meeting about Ronan. She said she knew the prognosis was not good.
“We spent a week in the hospital. We didn’t leave his side. We never left the hospital,” said Ms. Kerr. “He was on life support. He had the tubes, he had wires, he had things all in him, so I couldn’t even really touch and hug my boy.”
After seven days on life support, Mr. and Ms. Kerr made the decision to take their young son off life support.
“We were there and listened to his last breath,” said Ms. Kerr.
Nurses at Rady Children’s took Ronan’s footprints and handprints to make into jewelry for Ms. Kerr.
Nurses recorded a sound of Ronan’s heartbeat and placed a tiny media player inside the white teddy bear that Mr. and Mrs. Kerr now keep at their bedside to remember their youngest son.
On Nov. 4, the Kerrs sued the city of San Diego over the death of their young son and for failing to maintain and inspect city trees.
“This pain is just unbearable, and if we could just save another family from having to go through this, it’ll be worth it,” said Mr. Kerr. “I think it’s natural to second-guess your actions and your movements that day, but it never crossed my mind in a million years that this would happen. It’s a park. It’s supposed to be safe. It’s where you take your family to go play.
Attorney Bibi Fell represents the Kerr family. Fell has represented other families who have been forced to endure unending grief as a result of public agencies failing to keep the public safe.
Fell represented the family of three women who were crushed to death at Grandview Beach in August 2019 when a sandstone slab broke off from the bluff and crushed a young woman, her mother, and her aunt.
Fell says the city knows the dangers of non-native Eucalyptus trees, yet failed to act.
“Eucalyptus trees pose a danger well-known to arborists,” Fell told CBS 8. “They are not native to California, and when planted in irrigated parks, they rot, decay, and their large limbs can come crashing down. This particular tree showed signs of danger that should have been obvious to the City and its contractors. This lawsuit seeks to hold the City accountable for its failure to maintain and monitor the trees in our parks, which should be a safe place for San Diego families.”
For Mr. and Mrs. Kerr, their number one mission is to honor their young son and prevent a similar tragedy from ever happening to another family.
Standing inside the couple’s kitchen, Ms. Kerr pushes the button on the white teddy bear. A recording of Ronan’s heartbeat plays.
“I push this and hold it close so I can hear him again.”
CBS 8 reached out to the city of San Diego for comment. A spokesperson said the city cannot comment on pending litigation.