The Jefferson County sheriff described an accident in which a 6-year-old boy died as "terribly tragic."
A 6-year-old boy died this weekend after the all-terrain vehicle his 9-year-old sister was driving struck a tree in Jefferson County, authorities said.
Sawyer Christian Welch, Fraser, Colo., died at Jefferson County Memorial Hospital in Winchester, where he was taken by ambulance following the accident.
He had head injuries, Jefferson County Sheriff Roy Dunnaway said.
"Terribly tragic" is how Dunnaway described the accident.
"I can't recall a 6-year-old being a victim in an ATV accident. Some things you don't even like reading about, let alone having to be there."
Details of the accident weren't included in a draft report, Dunnaway said, but he said Sawyer's sister, Amanda, was driving the ATV when it struck the tree.
"We don't know what (Sawyer) hit his head on," Dunnaway said.
The accident occurred about 6:15 p.m. Saturday south of Winchester on private property owned by William Perry Jr., the sheriff said.
Sheriff's deputies and the Jefferson County Ambulance Service were called to the accident.
"We're investigating this as a medical emergency and an accident incident," Dunnaway said.
He said a report on the incident would be forwarded to the Jefferson County attorney's office for review.
"I'm not necessarily looking that there will be any charges, but we'll send it over for his looking anyway," Dunnaway said.
Dunnaway said there are no laws that he was aware of regulating children driving ATVs on private property.
-- Michael Dekker's phone message number is 832-7187. His e-mail address is mdekker@ljworld.com.
- An obituary for Sawyer Welch appears on page 3B.
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