Teen facing charges in death of 6-year-old boy previously called accidental


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALINA — A teenager is now facing criminal charges in connection with the death of a 6-year-old boy in Sevier County.

In April, police reported Tucker Sorensen's death as accidental after he stepped in front of a teen on a dirt bike. But due to a conflict of interest, the investigation was turned over to the Utah Highway Patrol. Now a 14-year-old is facing charges of negligent homicide.

For the last five months, the Sorensen family has struggled with the loss of their son. "It's been really tough," said Tucker's mother, Tawnie Sorensen. "His first day of school, I took his backpack to the cemetery. I shouldn't have had to do that." Tucker's father, Kirby Sorensen, was recently told the initial report of his son's death is not what happened.

"The D.A. said that if it was an accident, that he was just riding his bike and my boy had stepped out, that there would not be charges filed," he said.

But now, the teen driver is facing charges of negligent homicide and reckless driving in connection with the accident. Further investigation revealed the 6-year-old was not at fault. Investigators told Kirby Sorensen the teen on the dirtbike was riding on his rear wheel when he plowed through a group of kids walking in the road.

"The investigation states that he was riding a wheely and he had control of it. Some of the witnesses say they feel he was showing off."

Tucker was hit and never got up.

"This is a result of poor decisions," Kirby Sorensen said. Now Tucker's parents just want the death of their son to be a lesson for everyone.

"I just want people to think before they decide to do something," Tawnie Sorensen said. "If he hadn't been riding the wheely, he could have just drove by them and everything would have been fine," Kirby added.

The Utah Highway Patrol and the District Attorney said they can't go into much detail regarding a case involving a minor. However, they did say the charges of negligent homicide and reckless driving are pending in juvenile court.

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

Utah
Nicole Vowell

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast