Family Mourns Death Of 7-Year-Old Hit By SUV
MILACA, Minn. (WCCO) -- A Milaca family is mourning the loss of a 7-year-old girl who was killed while riding home on her bike.
The Mille Lacs County Sheriff says the driver of an SUV hit Alyssa Grimm shortly after sunset on Tuesday night.
Alyssa was with her sister and a friend at the time of the incident.
"She was riding back from fishing and she went to move over, and the car just didn't see her or something and she got hit," said Abby Grimm, Alyssa's sister.
Emergency crews airlifted Alyssa to North Memorial Medical Center, but she died from her injuries hours later.
A passenger in the SUV called 911 as soon as Alyssa was hit, police said.
The 29-year-old driver lives near the Alyssa. He gave investigators a detailed account of what he saw.
He told investigators he saw three children on bikes all travelling west. But one of the kids was in the eastbound lanes and at the last second, turned in front of him.
The county sheriff says the investigation is in its early stages, but right now, there is no indication the driver had been drinking or was speeding.
Abby says her sister often rode horses, and she loved to go fishing.
"When we took her fishing the first time, she caught a sunny and she was so happy," Abby said.
The victim's sister-in-law says the girl's parents are heartbroken.
"We're in the country, so who would think of it, you know, country people are cautious, but it happened," Jamie Grimm said. "It was right at dusk, you know, kinda hard to see."
The county sheriff said they have the Saturn SUV and Alyssa's bike in their possession. He said over the next few days they'll be able to learn more about the crash from examining that evidence, as well as the accident scene.
At this point, it looks like it was an accident. There's no evidence of any wrongdoing on the driver's part, but, again, the investigation is not complete.
Police say the driver is very upset by what happened.
