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Jul 6, 2009 6:28 pm US/Central
Baby Boy Killed In Campground Accident In SW Minn.
REDWOOD FALLS, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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Nicolle Prechel, a member of the family's camping party, is in jail facing charges of criminal vehicular homicide, driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license. (File)
Renville County
A baby boy from Redwood Falls is dead after an accident at a campground in Southwest Minnesota. Four-month-old Whyatt Sander was in a tent with his parents on Sunday around 8:30 a.m. when a minivan backed over the tent and dragged it several feet.
It appears that the person driving the van shouldn't have been driving at all.
Nicolle Prechel, a member of the family's camping party, is in jail facing charges of criminal vehicular homicide, driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license.
Beaver Falls Campground, about three miles northwest of Morton, Minnesota, didn't look like the scene of a fatal accident. There was no crime scene tape, but a single day lily marked the spot where Whyatt Sander was killed.
Dan Fick is an investigator with the Renville County Sheriff's Department. He used the van's tire tracks to explain how a camping weekend turned deadly.
"The tire tracks stop here but that's where we located the tent, so that tells us that the vehicle went up and over the tent," said Fick. "The wheels then made contact with the ground back here, behind the tent back here and they continued backwards until they hit the pole."
Fick estimated that the van dragged the tent more than 14 feet. He said Prechel was driving so fast she knocked a pole off its foundation. The pole landed several feet away. Renville County authorities haven't disclosed the results of Prechel's blood alcohol test.
However, Fick said, "Our investigation has revealed that she was impaired by alcohol, so it's very possible that she didn't realize what was going on, but it's hard to imagine somebody not knowing what is going on, especially this length of a distance."
Wyatt was pronounced dead on arrival at Redwood Falls Area Hospital. His mother was treated and released. Amber Zieske lives in a trailer across from Jacob Sander and Sheena Hinshaw, the baby's parents.
"He (Whyatt) was always smiling and giggling. It's just awful what happened," said Zieske. She said the parents are upset they don't want to return to the trailer where they lived with Whyatt.
"They lost their son, their life," said Zieske.
A couple campsites down from the spot where Whyatt was killed, a couple of Moms held their kids a little tighter today.
"It makes you just enjoy your kids that much more," said Stacy Morales. "You take it for granted that they're always gonna be here."
Formal charges are expected to be filed tomorrow against Prechel, who is believed to be a cousin of the baby's father.
A fund has been set up to help cover Whyatt's funeral costs. Donations can be sent to the Whyatt Sander Benefit Fund, Minnwest Bank, PO Box 439, 300 S. Washington Street, Redwood Falls, MN 56283.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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