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TAYLORSVILLE — A 13-year-old boy who was struck by a car while trick-or-treating with friends over the weekend died Monday as a result of his injuries, a spokeswoman for Taylorsville announced Monday.
Karl Finch, 13, died just after 1 a.m. Monday at Primary Children's Hospital.
He was in a crosswalk with three other boys at 2700 W. Matterhorn Drive (6380 South) about 7 p.m. Saturday when two of the boys were hit by a car. The second boy, 12, was also taken to Primary Children's Hospital in critical condition. Taylorsville officials said Monday that boy is expected to recover.
Karl suffered "major head trauma," according to a GoFundMe campaign set up to help pay for medical expenses.
"Karl is the oldest of four children. He is a straight A student. He has studied Mandarin Chinese for six years and consider to be proficiently fluent In reading, writing and speaking. Karl is a devoted baseball player and fan as well as an accomplished pianist. This kind hearted, intelligent young man was just beginning to make his mark in the world," the fundraising campaign states.
The Taylorsville baseball Facebook page shared a message from Karl's father, Jacob Finch, that he also posted on his page.
"To all our friends and family who have been praying so hard for our family. We want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your efforts. It is with great sadness that we tell you that early this morning after exhausting all efforts to keep Karl with us, he passed away. Karl is a great son, brother and friend. At this time we do request some space and time to process this with our family. We appreciate all the well wishes and concern, but please let us mourn with our family."
The investigation into the crash continued Monday and the 29-year-old driver was being cooperative with police. Speed was not a factor in the crash, but possible impairment has not been ruled out, according to the police chief.
"This is a tragic accident," Taylorsville Police Chief Brady Cottam said in a prepared statement. "We hope incidents like this never happen, especially on Halloween weekend when children are outside celebrating. At this time, we pray for comfort for the Finch family. All of us at the city of Taylorsville extend to them our deepest sympathy."
The tragic incident comes almost six years to the day of a similar tragedy just a few blocks away. On Oct. 31, 2015, Victoria Hillman, 14, was hit and killed while trick-or-treating with friends on 2700 West near 5930 South.
The accident was also part of what was an overall deadly weekend on Utah's roads. The Utah Highway Patrol stated prior to the announcement that Karl had passed that there were three crashes resulting in four deaths on the state's freeways, including a double fatal crash in Farmington, a fatal crash in Orem, and a crash in Grand County.
