Nashville advocates hold vigil for teen construction worker who died on the job

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A group of about 50 people gathered along Interstate Drive in East Nashville to honor the life of a young construction worker who died on the job.

RELATED: 16-year-old dies after falling 120 feet from scaffolding at East Nashville construction site

"We're here because we're fed up with what's happening with workers," said an interpreter in front of the crowd of mostly Spanish-speakers.

Tuesday afternoon, 16-year-old Gustavo Ramirez fell 120 feet to his death while working at the La Quinta Inn job site at 315 Interstate Drive.

"His family is heartbroken," said Cecilia Prado, spokesperson for Workers' Dignity, a non-profit organization that advocates for employee protection and economic justice. "They are confused. They are righteously angry and they want an explanation, and they want justice."

Metro Police say Ramirez was not wearing a safety harness. Prado is now calling on the Tennessee Occupational and Safety Health Administration to take action.

"I want to tell them, well, what are you doing?" said Prado. "What are you going to do about this? How are you going to address this issue? Are you actually going to go out there and listen to the workers? Instead of always listening to the developers and general contractors?

Metro Police have deemed Ramirez's death an accident.

Copyright 2020 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Share this story More Local News Stories More than 21,000 new unemployment claims filed last week in Tennessee by Brittney Baird / Jun 25, 2020 NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — More than 643,00 new unemployment claims have been filed in Tennessee since mid-March, according to data released Thursday morning by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce. The department reported the number of new claims for the week ending June 20 was 21,155. While that was up slightly from the 21,155 new claims the previous week, the numbers were still up from 14 weeks ago when approximately 2,702 claims were made for the week ending March 14. Read the Full Article Nashville's Hispanic communities among those most impacted by COVID-19 by Brittney Baird, Elizabeth Lane / Jun 25, 2020 NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — In Davidson County, the COVID-19 virus continues to concentrate in Southeast Nashville where the community has several diverse immigrant populations. "Heatmaps" released by the Metro Public Health Department show immigrant communities in Southeast Nashville are the most impacted by the coronavirus. Read the Full Article General Motors manufacturing lays off hundreds of employees at Spring Hill plant by CB Cotton / Jun 24, 2020 SPRING HILL, Tenn. (WKRN) — On Wednesday, General Motors confirmed to News 2 that hundreds of employees would be laid off from their Spring Hill manufacturing plant. In a statement to News 2 the company said, Read the Full Article Top Stories Governor Lee signs Juneteenth proclamation Friday Louisville police officer in Breonna Taylor shooting to be fired WeGo suspends service to Opry Mills, per mall's request Protests over police killings rage in dozens of US cities Current 74° Scattered Clouds Tonight 68° Partly Cloudy Precip: 20% Tomorrow 90° More sun than clouds Precip: 20% Don't Miss Salad recall: Bagged grocery store mix sickens more than 100 in 7 states Oregon county reverses mask exception for people of color after 'shocking' backlash Video Hearing fireworks booming before July 4 this year? You're not alone Video 'Faces of the conquerors': Trump trip to Rushmore draws fire More than 21,000 new unemployment claims filed last week in Tennessee Tennessee State Museum to reopen July 1, require masks Teen wanted in connection with violent Hendersonville home invasion

Victims advocates hold vigil for 108 Charlotte homicide victims in 2019