[AJD] Accident

[G.Dombaugh]

Here is the Wichita Eagle version of the  accident...
Garrell
Wichita, KS
_________________
Mower death disturbs officials

BY TIM POTTER

The Wichita Eagle


It's difficult enough for law enforcement and emergency workers to mentally
process the death of 2-year-old Samantha Nichols of Douglass, Butler County
Sheriff Craig Murphy said Monday.

On Saturday, Samantha died instantly after she fell off a tractor she was
riding on with her father and was run over by a heavy-duty mower pulled by
the tractor, Murphy said.

Then, thinking of her father, Murphy said, "You can only imagine what this
father is going through."

Sheriff's investigators were still trying to learn exactly how the girl was
situated on the tractor and how she fell.

Her father, Christopher Nichols, was cutting weeds with a smaller, older
Ford tractor pulling the mower, the sheriff said. The accident occurred
about 8:20 p.m. Saturday near a barn at the family's home, on a shady street
on the edge of town.

The family has declined to comment to reporters.

Authorities had initially said that Samantha was 13 months old, then
corrected themselves Monday. She recently turned 2, Murphy said.

With investigators still gathering facts, he said, it is too early to
comment on whether any charge could be filed. An autopsy was to be
conducted.

Butler County Attorney Jan Satterfield said Monday that there does not
appear to be any intentional conduct on the part of the father. It appears
to be an accident.

"I understand, certainly, that he's suffering," she said of the father.

A key legal question that has yet to be answered, Satterfield said, is
whether there is evidence of any "extreme indifference" or recklessness that
could possibly constitute a crime.

It would be up to the Sheriff's Department to determine whether there is
probable cause to believe that such a crime occurred.

The deaths of children are always among the most disturbing cases. But in
his nearly three decades in law enforcement, Murphy said, he has never
encountered another accident like the one Saturday night.

He told his deputies and other emergency workers who responded to the scene
that they would be provided counseling, if they wanted it, to help them
cope.

"It is upsetting," Murphy said. "It affected all of us, including me."

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Beth Dugan" <BDUGAN at aibonline.org>
To: <antique-johndeere at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 08, 2004 11:36 AM
Subject: [AJD] Accident


> This was reported in the Lawrence Journal here in Kansas yesterday or
> today.  Sad to see.  According to news report mom was standing by and
> saw it all also.
>
>
> 2-year-old girl killed in fall from tractor
>
> A 2-year-old girl was killed during the weekend when she fell from a
> tractor while riding on it with her father and was run over by the large
> mower it was pulling, Butler County Sheriff Craig Murphy said.
>
> The child, Samantha R. Nichols, was dead at the scene Saturday night,
> Murphy said. He said the tractor driven by her father, Christopher, was
> pulling a brush-hog type mower.
>
> The sheriff said the investigation is continuing
>
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>