Yahoo Movies Boy, 4, Killed After Wandering onto Indiana Highway in the Middle of the Night
A child was killed in Indiana after walking out onto a highway and being struck by a car in the middle of the night.
The Warrick County Sheriff's Office announced the tragic news in a Monday statement, saying the accident happened around 4 a.m. According to authorities, a 4-year-old boy named Braxton Freeze was struck by a motorist on State Road 66 near Lincoln Avenue.
The motorist, who was driving to work at 45 - 50 mph prior to the accident, called 911 and began performing CPR on Freeze per instructions over the phone, WFIE reported. Despite the attempt, after authorities arrived, Freeze was pronounced dead at the scene.
In their social media statement, the sheriff's office said that the Princeton, Indiana boy was staying with his mother and her boyfriend at a business nearby. While the adults were asleep, he left where they were staying and ran out onto he road.
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WCSO Sheriff Michael Wilder told WFIE that the mother couldn't find her son after waking up that morning.
"It's a parent's worst nightmare to find out that your child is dead," WCSO Chief Deputy Paul Kruse told the station.
According to the station, the driver did not see the child in the road. Drugs and alcohol are not believed to have factored into the accident, the sheriff's office added.
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"The family of that child, the driver, to have to deal with that, and also all of the first responders on scene and that took the call this morning; it impacts everyone that touches that incident," Kruse said of the tragedy.
The case is currently under investigation by the Sheriff's Office, Indiana State Police, Warrick County Coroner's Office, and Indiana Department of Child Services. Newburgh Police Department also assisted in the investigation. No charges have yet been filed.
