Baby drowns in off-road crash (KTLA-TV / September 7, 2010) |
APPLE VALLEY -- An 16-month-old baby boy has died after the off-road vehicle he was riding in plunged into a spillway in Apple Valley. CHP detectives say the driver -- the boy's father -- was driving under the influence.
It happened around 9:30 p.m. near the intersection of South Deep Creek Road and Rock Springs Road at the Saddle Dike embankment of the Mojave River.
23-year-old Hunter Keenan Kilmer was driving his 1987 Suzuki Samurai off-road with 19-year-old Justin Rivera. The driver's child, 16-month-old Ford Lewis Kilmer, was in a car seat in the back.
Investigators arrested Hunter Kilmer on suspicion of manslaughter and driving under the influence.
Kilmer had reportedly been through this off-road area before, but he tried to inch his way through high water.
The jeep rolled over in nine feet of water.
Kilmer and Rivera made it out of the vehicle, but the child did not.
CHP investigators said the vehicle's side doors were welded shut for off-roading purposes, which hampered efforts to get the child out.
It happened around 9:30 p.m. near the intersection of South Deep Creek Road and Rock Springs Road at the Saddle Dike embankment of the Mojave River.
23-year-old Hunter Keenan Kilmer was driving his 1987 Suzuki Samurai off-road with 19-year-old Justin Rivera. The driver's child, 16-month-old Ford Lewis Kilmer, was in a car seat in the back.
Investigators arrested Hunter Kilmer on suspicion of manslaughter and driving under the influence.
Kilmer had reportedly been through this off-road area before, but he tried to inch his way through high water.
The jeep rolled over in nine feet of water.
Kilmer and Rivera made it out of the vehicle, but the child did not.
CHP investigators said the vehicle's side doors were welded shut for off-roading purposes, which hampered efforts to get the child out.
