A 4-year-old has died after being hit by a car when he walked into a roadway overnight Sunday in Florence.It happened around 12:59 a.m. when the Boone County Sheriff's office said deputies were called out to a crash on the Weaver Road overpass along I-75.The sheriff's office said a driver was traveling west when she struck the 4-year-old who had walked into the roadway from the right shoulder. The 4-year-old, who the sheriff's office identified as Jamison Beck, from Florence, died Monday at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. The driver of the vehicle was not injured, officials say.Deputies say the female driver noticed a vehicle had stopped in the eastbound lane of travel and flashed their headlights, resulting in the vehicle slowing down to approximately 30 mph (in a 55 mph posted zone). Officials say the vehicle that had stopped had passed through the area and observed the child standing at the edge of the roadway on the overpass unsupervised and turned around and stopped in traffic to make contact with the child when the collision happened.Officials say the female driver did not see the child walk into the roadway, due to nighttime conditions and the roadway being unlit. She did stay on scene, according to deputies.BCSO officials say the 4-year-old, who is autistic and nonverbal, left his residence from a nearby apartment complex on Mission Lane after their family had gone to sleep.According to deputies, speed and alcohol or drug impairment have been determined to not have been factors in the crash, and the driver and the child's family are cooperating with the investigation.Boone County Sheriff's Office public information officer, Philip Ridgell, says the department used a reverse 911 system to try and locate the boy's parents. "That prompted a quick response from the child's mother. She then reached out to us from what I understand and we were able to make that connection pretty quickly," Ridgell said.This story reminds Rhonda O'Brien of her 9-year-old grandson, Ian Sousis. "Ian was really funny and he was very, very smart," O'Brien said.Sousis had autism, ran away from a children's home in Northern Kentucky and drowned in the Ohio River in June of 2022. His family helped pass 'Ian's Alert,' a new form of communication to locate a missing or lost child with autism. It was signed by Governor Andy Beshear in April. "We will never get over it, so we're just hoping that we're going to be able to help other families," O'Brien said. No charges have been filed in Beck's case, officials say.Florence police are leading the investigation.
FLORENCE, Ky. —
A 4-year-old has died after being hit by a car when he walked into a roadway overnight Sunday in Florence.
It happened around 12:59 a.m. when the Boone County Sheriff's office said deputies were called out to a crash on the Weaver Road overpass along I-75.
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The sheriff's office said a driver was traveling west when she struck the 4-year-old who had walked into the roadway from the right shoulder.
The 4-year-old, who the sheriff's office identified as Jamison Beck, from Florence, died Monday at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
The driver of the vehicle was not injured, officials say.
Deputies say the female driver noticed a vehicle had stopped in the eastbound lane of travel and flashed their headlights, resulting in the vehicle slowing down to approximately 30 mph (in a 55 mph posted zone). Officials say the vehicle that had stopped had passed through the area and observed the child standing at the edge of the roadway on the overpass unsupervised and turned around and stopped in traffic to make contact with the child when the collision happened.
Officials say the female driver did not see the child walk into the roadway, due to nighttime conditions and the roadway being unlit. She did stay on scene, according to deputies.
BCSO officials say the 4-year-old, who is autistic and nonverbal, left his residence from a nearby apartment complex on Mission Lane after their family had gone to sleep.
According to deputies, speed and alcohol or drug impairment have been determined to not have been factors in the crash, and the driver and the child's family are cooperating with the investigation.
Boone County Sheriff's Office public information officer, Philip Ridgell, says the department used a reverse 911 system to try and locate the boy's parents.
"That prompted a quick response from the child's mother. She then reached out to us from what I understand and we were able to make that connection pretty quickly," Ridgell said.
This story reminds Rhonda O'Brien of her 9-year-old grandson, Ian Sousis.
"Ian was really funny and he was very, very smart," O'Brien said.
Sousis had autism, ran away from a children's home in Northern Kentucky and drowned in the Ohio River in June of 2022.
His family helped pass 'Ian's Alert,' a new form of communication to locate a missing or lost child with autism. It was signed by Governor Andy Beshear in April.
"We will never get over it, so we're just hoping that we're going to be able to help other families," O'Brien said.
No charges have been filed in Beck's case, officials say.
Florence police are leading the investigation.
